Cocoon
by pipedreamdragon
Summary: Hinata is living the dream. She is now the girlfriend of Naruto Uzumaki, who has achieved his dream of becoming a Hokage. Life is almost perfect, until she starts having feelings for one of her old team mates. Soon afterwards, Hinata's conflicting emotions turn her dream into a dreadful nightmare. Shinohina. Rated M for some seriously weird content. Reader Discretion Advised.
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note: This story has some really graphic and disturbing content in it. Read at your own risk._

Cocoon

Chapter 1

~o~

Hinata's head tilted back, her locks of dark blue pouring over the warm, milky skin of her shoulder. She inhaled sharply, her hips flowing to the rhythm of the other pair beneath her. Her cheeks were tinted with the hot blush of a pleasure that she had become quite accustomed to at this point, but still cherished. She felt his fingertips trailing up her bare thighs, which stopped to seize her flesh as he entered her, again and again.

She fell forward, her hands gripping at the pillows on either side of his head. She gazed into those deep, blue eyes...then found herself being pulled towards them. Their lips met...wet, and tender...the lips she had dreamed of kissing since she was a little girl. He felt so amazing inside her...her prize. Her beautiful, handsome, cheerful...courageous...and oh so irresistible Naruto.

"Hinata...I'm close..." he whispered, the rhythm beginning to speed.

"Go inside me..." she replied, replacing her lips back on his.

It was fine, of course. She reveled in it. Every moment she spent with him, she drank in with a never-ending thirst. He flowed through her like her own streams of chakra, and it was all she could ever want.

He was silent, his expression clenching...then with a howl, he let himself go. Hinata made a special effort to tense the muscles within her just for him. His moans were her orchestra, and she his maestro.

Exhausted, she rolled off of him into the dampened sheets and rested on his outstretched arm. He did not look at her, but only breathed.

"I love you..." she mentioned quietly.

"You too, Hinata-chan," he replied without turning to her.

"Can it be my turn now?" she asked with a hint of timidness. Only then did he turn his face towards hers.

"I'm...I'm really sorry Hinata, not today. I've got some really important business to deal with...I only had this much time to spare for you to begin with."

With that, he rolled off the bed and wiped himself off on their designated "clean-up" towel, then began shuffling on his various orange-tinted garb.

Hinata lay naked on their futon, watching him with a pitiful disappointment. She would forgive him, of course. He was...so busy now, she was lucky if she could even have a moment like this alone with him.

Naruto took one more garment off the nearby chair, fluffed it out, then donned it with the same pride he always did when wearing his father's cloak. Then, he took his Hokage's hat and placed it neatly over his wild, messy hair.

He turned to Hinata, and smiled at her from beneath the cloth.

"Don't be sad, Hinata-chan. Your team mates are supposed to be back today, remember?"

Hinata blinked, and watched her lover leave without another word. How could she have forgotten?!

She quickly rolled out of bed, dabbed herself dry, then threw on her clothes as fast as her body would allow her to fit into them. She was out the door before she could even slip her sandal over her heel.

~o~

It had been three years since the event with Obito and the Akatsuki. After Sasuke had returned and proven himself in the fight against the ultimate ninjutsu, it was difficult to declare who would become the next Hokage. All three members of Team 7 had been skillfully trained by all three sannin, and each shinobi had shown an equal prowess and potential for protecting the Hidden Leaf Village.

As a result, the village elders and fifth Hokage, along with a majority vote from the civilians of Konoha, decided to take a different route. All three shinobi...Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and Sasuke Uchiha, would take up the title of Hokage and rule as equals. This would not only provide a balanced center of government, but would allow the Hokages to be in more than one place.

Communication between the Hidden Villages was at an all time high since the Great War, and it wasn't long before a couple of the other villages started adopting the practice of the "Three Shadows" form of rule. The Sand Village was the first, where Gaara was soon accompanied in rule by his brother and sister. Overall, it allowed a wider balance and much more opportunity for a career as a Kage, (as it seemed to be a very popular goal among young ninjas).

Hinata Hyuga had been very proud of Naruto's accomplishment, and as she had promised him, she had stubbornly stuck by his side through thick and thin. After the war, and after her efforts to assist Naruto, the two were inseparable. With Naruto's promotion to Ichihokage, not even the prestigious Hyuga clan could deny her relationship with him.

But, when Hinata moved in to the living quarters of Hokage tower, she found that she had little time to spend with her significant other. Even with two other Hokages, keeping track of income, order, and all manner of government was terribly time-consuming. Yet, for the most part, Hinata was happy.

~o~

Today, she was filled with another kind of joy. After almost half a year in the feild, her beloved team mates, who she had grown up with and shared so many adventures with, were returning to the village. As she raced down the spiral of the Hokage tower, her thoughts swarmed with hazy images of their faces. Kiba, with his shaggy mop of hair and the incessant stench of canine and leather, and Shino...mysterious Shino...under all those hoods and collars, accompanied by that ominous hum of his hive.

Hinata was almost out of breath by the time she reached the massive gates of Konoha. The location was pretty much void of anyone minus Izumo and Kotetsu, faithfully reading their magazines as opposed to actually guarding anything. Hinata timidly approached them, and was greeted with the kindly gaze one would be greeted with at the tax office on a Monday morning.

"Um...e-excuse me?"

Izumo graced her presence with a glance over his magazine.

"D-do...do you know if Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame have arrived yet?"

"Nope."

"N..n-nope?" she asked meekly, a bit confused. She was answered with silence.

"Um...you mean...'nope' as in you don't know? Or... they aren't here yet?"

"...yeah," Kotetsu responded with complete disinterest.

Hinata sighed and let her shoulders droop, then decided to take a seat near an adjacent bench.

"Why do we even have guards at all?" she muttered to herself.

She ended up waiting there for about an hour...or at least it seemed like an hour. It could have very well been only twenty minutes and she was just growing impatient. There's a certain feeling one gets when they're waiting to meet someone that they've never met before, or haven't seen in quite sometime. It's an agonizing and exciting feeling...it starts in the stomach, then makes it way to the heart. Palms sweat, and it gets difficult to breath. So when Hinata thought that she had been waiting for an hour, she had actually only been waiting five minutes. Fortunately, after those five minutes had passed, a hand clasped on her shoulder from behind. The sudden touch made her jump what felt like forty feet in the air.

When she turned, she found Kiba's sly grin, adorned with a gruff and scraggly...well, it couldn't really be called a beard. More like what happens when one barely pays attention to their face while out on a six month mission. Along with him was his equally shaggy beast, Akamaru. Hinata held her hand over her heart and took a breath.

"K-kiba-kun...you gave me a start."

"Hah! Me? Sneak up on the great Hinata Hyuga? What happened to your Byakugan? I hope dating the Ichihokage hasn't softened you up!"

Her cheeks swelled, and she looked away in shame. It had been an embarrassingly long time since she did any real training...but how could she help herself? She wanted to be with the man she had waited for for years, and they had just defeated the greatest evil known to the ninja world. Didn't she deserve a break? Or time to be with her love instead of out in the field?

It was then she saw _him_. Mr. Tall, Dark, and Hooded himself, Shino Aburame. Though, something was a bit off. His face looked different.

"Shino? Is that you under there?" she asked, peering under his hood as he approached.

"Most of me," he replied solemnly.

Then she noticed it. A great big scar, right under his goggles on his left eye. It was similar to Kakashi's, but even larger.

"Oh my goodness, what happened to you?" Hinata squeaked, pulling her fingers to her lips.

"Ah...opponent got a little too close to our ol' pal Shino, here..." Kiba began to explain while placing a hand on Shino's shoulder. "Lost his eye in the midst of battle."

Hinata could feel her own eyes become cloudy and moist.

"Fortunately I still have one left," Shino stated in a manner which might have been interpreted as humor to the common sociopath.

He also might have been smiling, but it was lost under his robes. Either way, Hinata was overwhelmed with a painful guilt. Had she been on that six month mission with her team like she was supposed to, Shino would still have his eye. But, with Naruto in charge, she was allowed to stay as opposed to spending half a year without him.

Hinata felt a warm, gloved hand on the side of her face. She realized she had been staring at the ground, where great globules of tears had began to splatter on the pavement beneath her.

"Don't feel as if it were your fault, Hinata. All missions are dangerous, and Aburame do not need eyes. I could do just as well with no eyes at all, as long as my hive thrives within me."

"We definitely missed ya though, Hina-chan," Kiba said while giving her back a gingerly rub. Akamaru woofed in agreement, flopping his great fluffy tail behind him.

"Hey, why don't go grab some barbecue? It's been ages since we had some decent chow. We can tell you all about our grand adventure without you!"

As jolly as Kiba was, and always had been, Hinata couldn't help but feel like he was hinting that it really was her fault, that she should have been there, and how could she possibly abandon them for some pretentious, self-centered...

But she was probably just imagining things.

~o~

Team Eight spent their evening discussing their adventures through treacherous territory, the legendary fight that resulted in Shino's injury, and how well Naruto fared in the sack. Well, the last bit wasn' t really a discussion, more like an out-of-bounds jape from Kiba which ended in Hinata splashing her sake in his face. It wasn't like she was making use of it anyway...Hinata was tipsy on a thimbleful of the stuff, but even that couldn't crack the safe that was her intimate experiences with Naruto. Yet, the team managed to have a very pleasant get-together, and by the end of the night, even Shino's cheeks were touched by a bit of pink.

They left the restaurant hoarse and exhausted, and Kiba was eager to head home and sleep in his own bed. Hinata hugged him goodbye, then turned to Shino.

"Would you mind walking me home?"

"Not at all," he replied softly, then held out his elbow like a gentleman. Hinata smiled at the offering and took it, appreciating the warmth in the cool night air.

Hinata and Shino weren't ones for chattering. They never were, even at the best of times. Yet, Hinata had never felt more comfortable at anyone else's side than at his. Perhaps it was the fact that he never judged her or intimidated her, or maybe the odd humming sound he always emanated had some kind of soothing effect on the brain. Regardless, he was a cherished friend to her, and she was happy to have him back.

Except, something was still irking her.

"Shino-kun...I..." she started, barely audible. She wasn't even sure if he could actually hear her, until he replied with a monotone "Hmm?"

"I...I really am sorry...about your eye..."

"I told you, Hinata. Don't blame yourself. The mission was a success, and both Kiba and I are back alive. There are far worse things to lose than an eye."

It seemed like he meant something more then that, but Hinata didn't question it. Shino was very straightforward, so when things sounded cryptic, it was usually just her imagination.

"May...may I see it?" she asked timidly, as the two came to a stop under the glow of a street light.

Shino stood in silence for a few moments. He looked down at her through the clouded lenses of his goggles, but said nothing. Hinata had known him for a long time, and this was his way of giving her permission to do something that he wasn't entirely sure he should give permission for.

She reached to the sides of his hood, and slowly, cautiously pulled it back to reveal his messy, wiry hair. He remained as still and as silent as an old tree in a graveyard. Then, she pulled the goggles up to his forehead.

Shino didn't reveal his eyes very often, but there wasn' t all that much to hide. His eyes had always been brown and ordinary compared to Hinata's misty Byakugan. Yet, when she revealed that scarred and reddened slash where his eye once was, the remaining one seemed all the more somber and lonely.

But Hinata did not fear the wounded. She had seen many an injury in her time as a kuonichi, and Shino's wasn't even worth the bat of an eye. In fact, it prompted her to run the tip of her finger across it. Why she did such a thing, she couldn't be sure. Perhaps she wanted to fully absorb the consequences of her actions, or somehow sooth them in a way. Shino grunted at her touch, but remained unmoving.

"It gives you character," she said, after a long silence. He continued to look at her with his monocular stare. She withdrew her hand, but he caught her by the wrist in a swift movement.

"Hinata, I told you, don't blame yourself. I know you, and I know your tendencies for feeling weak. You are not, and this is _not your fault._"

The last three words were spoken as if they had been carved in stone. Hinata looked deep into his remaining eye that stared back at her like an immortal deity. That stare could have made Orochimaru slither under a rock, but to Hinata, it brought a sort of...peace.

Then something strange occurred. Before she knew it, she was suddenly wrapped in a warm, earthy embrace...surrounded by the calming hum she'd known for so long. But this, this was unusual. Shino certainly wasn't a touchy person, and while Hinata had surely hugged him on more than one occasion, this was the first to be initiated by him. Regardless, Hinata returned the hug without conflict.

A moment passed, and the length of the embrace started to enter the zone of awkwardness.

"Shino...?" Hinata asked openly, hoping to prod for an explanation.

"I've missed you, Hinata."

"I...I missed you too, Shino-kun..."

She felt the embrace tighten. She was starting to get nervous, but she returned the squeeze. It wasn't that she didn't truly miss him...by all means, she was happy to have him. It was just such a peculiar gesture on his part that it made her wonder if he was alright.

Then, she felt something even more unusual. Something briefly pressed against the front of her thigh, but vanished just as soon as it had appeared. She almost thought she had imagined it, until she felt it again a moment later. When it occurred to her what it might have been, she quickly pulled away from him.

She intensely stared at the ground, her cheeks flushed. She couldn't look at his face, for fear of him seeing her reaction. This had already ventured well into a quagmire of awkwardness, and Hinata didn't want to confirm that she had felt a flicker of his yearning for her.

"Um...I..I can walk myself home now, th-thank you for accompanying me," she said in a flurry before giving him a polite bow. She quickly turned and began to dart away, then Shino snagged her by the hood of her jacket.

"Wait..."

She could feel a bead of sweat trickling down her temple.

"Could I have my goggles back, please?"

"Oh, right...of c-course, here."

She outstretched her arm, presenting the goggles while still in a bow. She was stiff with nervousness. Shino calmly removed the goggles from her palm, and she retracted her arm instantly afterwards.

"Th-thank you again...Sh-sh-shino-kun. Have a good night."

"Good night, Hinata."

At least she thought she heard him say that. She was half a mile away by the time she realized he had even responded.

~End of Chapter 1~


	2. Chapter 2

Cocoon

Chapter 2

When Hinata made it back to the living quarters of Hokage Tower, she found Naruto passed out on their futon, wearing only his boxers and his goofy nightcap that he had refused to stop wearing regardless of the holes and the fact that it was one size too small.

She let out a sigh and began undressing herself, and didn't start climbing in beside him until she was down to a tank top and undies. Naruto was emitting some kind of mouth-noise, but it was too quiet to be considered snoring. She lay on her back, and stared up at the ceiling for a moment before attempting to close her eyes. But, as suspected, her mind was wandering in places she had been desperately trying to not let it wander in. Now that she was laying still, all that she could focus on was that big, hard...

No. By the nine beasts, no! She had the love of her life, right there beside her. If she wanted, she could press up against him and wake him up and take him into her right then and there. What business did she have thinking about an old friend's accidental brush against her? It probably wasn't even what she thought it was. Shino wouldn't be attracted to her like that...Shino wasn't attracted to anyone! Even if he was, it's not like he wanted to pursue anything with her. Guys react like that all the time without having any control over it, especially after a night of drinking. It was no secret that Hinata had endowments that rivaled the Fifth's, and it wasn't hard to spot when someone's pants started getting a little tight. It was the reason she adorned herself in baggy clothing most of the time, simply because the stares were too much to take.

So it was obvious that Shino would react like that, especially with how close they were. He had probably felt her bosom pressed up against him, and he was so warm...

No. Just stop right there. Hinata was Naruto's. She belonged with Naruto! Wonderful, strong, powerful Naruto, with his big sweet smile and his brown eyes and the soothing hum he always...

Hinata pounded the heels of her palms into her temples. Stop it, stop it, stop it! Shino is just a friend...he's always been a friend. That's it. That's it! Just a friend...

She rolled over, squeezing her eyes tight and commanding herself to fall asleep. But it just wasn't working...the harder she tried, the more aggressively the thoughts of Shino fought to stay in her focus. Eventually, she just gave up and let them seep in.

Ancient memories that hadn't passed her mind in ages began to surface from the depths of her subconsciousness. She remembered missions with Team Eight, fighting alongside Kiba, Akamaru, and Shino. Those were the good ol' days...but not due to the thrill of the fight. Despite how top-notch her abilities had become being the significant other of Konoha's greatest hero, fighting was never something she would do for the fun of it. No, her favorite part was the travel. The day-to-day from one place to another...taking long walks down country roads, smelling the fresh air, or leaping from branch to branch in the cool shade of the woods.

Then, she remembered something that she had kept in a dusty old filing cabinet full of forgotten memories in the back of her mind. She had blocked it out for so long, but now that the cobwebs had been swept off, she could see it as clear as yesterday.

During especially chilly nights, after their fire had begun to burn low, Hinata would have a hard time falling asleep. Kiba had his hound to keep him warm, but Hinata...Hinata had Shino. It was a little bit awkward the first night it had happened. Shino had noticed Hinata shivering away in her sleeping bag, so he nonchalantly offered her to sleep in his with him. "For survival," he said. Nothing wrong with that. Plus, Shino had an extra large sleeping bag for...reasons he never really cared to explain. So, she hesitantly slid in beside him. The warmth was more than enough to convince her to stay.

The first night, they lay side by side, fully clothed, only their arms made any contact. But just having him near her, along with that soothing sound, lulled her right to sleep. It wasn't long before the two began to make it a habit, nor was it long before the awkwardness began to chip away. Eventually he would sleep with an arm around her, then with her leg around him. Then they slept with their coats off. Then they slept completely pretzeled around each other.

Oddly enough, their strange ritual never escalated beyond nightly cuddles. They never put their hands anywhere where they shouldn't have. They never kissed, not even on the cheek or the forehead. It was simply...an arrangement that worked for the both of them. In addition, since Kiba was _always _the last to wake up, said arrangement was Shino and Hinata's little secret.

Hinata thought it peculiar that she hadn't thought of that in so long. They must have slept together at least a dozen times. It never changed their relationship in any aspect. They were never affectionate in public, and Shino never gave any sort of sign that he wanted something more out of it. Perhaps it was so secretive between the two that she had forgotten to remember it at all. She had even forgotten when they stopped.

But one thing she did remember is that never on any of those nights did she feel any sort of arousal towards her. She must have slept beside him from when they were fourteen to about when her feelings for Naruto started to become a reality. Why now would he have that kind of reaction around her?

For reasons she could not understand, she suddenly deeply regretted leaving Shino so abruptly. She had the urge to put on her clothes and run to find him, but that would be silly. He was probably already at home, getting ready for bed, if not asleep already. Nevertheless, her body ached to be next to him like she had been all those nights. She wanted to be snuggled up to him in his big plush sleeping bag, listening to the sounds of his insects.

Don't be ridiculous. It must be two past midnight...why wasn't she falling asleep? She turned and faced Naruto's back and wrapped her arms around him, pressing her chest to him.

"Naruto-kun?" she whispered gingerly.

"Mm," he grunted.

"Do you love me?" she asked, a bit more loudly.

"Mm...hmm."

That wasn't a very satisfying answer. She needed him to break her out of this spell. She needed to be kissed and groped and made love to by Naruto. Surely being showered with affection by her one true love would put her back in order. She reached around and felt through his boxers. Soft as a bread dough...that won't do. She attempted a few strokes, but that thing was just as unconscious as he was.

Hinata felt a pinching sensation between her thighs. Her flower needed pollinating, and badly. She sent her fingers down on a mission to calm the sensation, but there was a beast hungry with passion lurking there. Hinata closed her eyes and thought of earlier in the day, of Naruto inside her. She rubbed away, gently as first, then harder as she became more frustrated. The more she pictured Naruto, the more tedious the task grew. But when she thought of Shino...

Yes, Shino...her secret. Her hidden comfort, her pocket of safety. What would it be like to be close to him? What would it feel like to kiss him? Press her skin against his? Feel him slip inside...

The pleasure bloomed within her faster than she had expected. She even let out a little moan, despite her efforts to stay quiet.

Oh dear, she thought to herself. This isn't good.

~o~

The next morning, Hinata woke up alone. This wasn't unusual, but it certainly didn't help the conflicting emotions that were welling up inside of her. Well, the best thing she could do is distract herself and keep it out of her mind. Perhaps this was all just some kind of pent up mental backlash for not accompanying her team which lead to the permanent damage of one of her team mates. Either way, she needed a bath, and badly. As she gathered her things and prepared to make her way to the onsen, she noticed a note pinned to the door that was written in the barely legible handwriting of the Ichihokage.

_Hinata-chan,_

_Sorry for bailing on you this morning. Huge Hokage meeting just announced. Will make it up to you this evening_.

_ Love you, 'ttebayo!_

_ Naruto _

He had gotten into the habit of just signing his family name with a spiral instead of just spelling it out. Perhaps he thought it was cool, but everyone in Konoha just thought it childish. Even has a Hokage he'd still never totally stop being that rambunctious little rascal.

Hinata sighed and smiled to herself, then tore down the note and folded it into her pocket. She always kept his notes, even if they were about something frivolous. She liked how she could hear his voice when he said that he loved her. Perhaps her weird little Shino fantasy was just a whim after all.

Until she literally ran into him on the way to the onsen.

"O-oh! Excuse me, Shino-kun!" she piped while bowing down. The bow was not so much an act of courtesy as it was a way to keep her eyes off of him.

"Hinata-san, you should get your eyes checked. I only have one and I could tell you were coming from at least a few meters away."

"I-I'm sorry, Shino-kun...really. I was...I was distracted."

"Hmm."

Despite herself, she looked up at him. He certainly wasn't the irresistable incubus she was making him out to be. He was just regular old Shino. Her Shino.

"Going somewhere?" he asked calmly after a moment of silence had passed between them.

Hinata fumbled with herself. "Oh, y-y-yes...I was just..on my way to t-take a bath."

"Hmm...I was too, actually. Would you like me to walk you there?"

How could he be so cool about this? Did he not remember how weird their last meeting was? Was he completely unaware that he had brushed against her?

"N-no...thank you."

"Are you sure? I wouldn't want you running into anyone else on the way."

Of course he was cool about it...he was Shino. He was Mr. Cool Dude. Dr. Zen Master. Professor-I-can-sleep-next-to-a-teenage-girl-for-five-years-and-not-pitch-a-tent. Shino wouldn't fall into a stuttering mess when faced head-on in a social catastrophe.

"Y-yes, I'm fine, really. Thank you..."

She gave him a brief bow and hurried away before he could respond. There were plenty of other ways to get to the bath house, and she was going to avoid that man to the best of her abilities. At least until she got her thoughts together about the situation.

She managed to take her bath and get herself clean in privacy, but it was only a matter of time before her peace was interrupted, yet again by one of her team mates. This time it was Kiba, who met her right when she was leaving.

"Hinata-chan! I was looking for you!" he barked. Hinata swore he was one of the loudest people she had ever met (next to her boyfriend, that is).

"Good morning Kiba-kun. What's going on?" She asked politely while dabbing some moisture from her ear with her towel.

"The Sanhokage has summoned us for a mission. I swear, we just get back home and they already want us back in the field. I haven't even had time to shave!"

Hinata blinked. "We?"

"Yeah! Team Eight! You, me, and Beetlejuice over there. Just like old times!"

Hinata hadn't even noticed that Shino was suddenly walking towards them. Her heart dropped to her knees.

"Wh...wh...y..you mean I'm coming with you?

"Yeah, 'course! You're part of the team, aren't ya?"

This was weird. Hinata hadn't been assigned a mission with her team in several months, and when she was assigned a mission, it was usually some kind of errand run for the Shadows. In addition, she wouldn't be hearing about such a thing without Naruto informing her well beforehand. Nevertheless, she gave Kiba the benefit of the doubt.

"I-I..well, yes of course. Um...when..is the meeting, exactly?" she squeaked, her shoulders slumping over into shy, defensive mode.

"An hour from now. That goes for you too, Shino."

Shino, now only an excruciating two feet away from them, simply nodded in confirmation.

Hinata gulped, her hands nervously gripping at her towel. What a disaster. She hadn't felt this full of anxiety since her genin years. It was embarrassing...she needed out of there fast.

"Okay..a-a-an hour. Y-you g-got it. I um...I have to do a thing...I'll see you guys at the meeting."

And with that, she darted of before her team mates even realize she had left.

~o~

If it wasn't one thing, it was another. It took Hinata thirty minutes to head back to the living quarters and get dressed, and another twenty to scour the Hokage Tower for any sign of Naruto, which of course there was none. Why on earth was she summoned for a mission without hearing from him first?

Time was running short. It was only a few minutes until the meeting, where she would be stuck in that miserable room with Kiba and him...

She had never had less of a desire to see her team mates, which was odd considering how eager she was to be with them just yesterday. Suddenly it occurred to her just how silly her reaction to the whole thing was. Shino didn't have any feelings for her, of course he didn't! Surely his little brush was just her imagining things. The hug didn't mean anything other than missing an old friend, and experiencing deep, profoundly emotional feelings of sexual nature was just a...

Hinata shook her head and dug her palms into her temples. No, now is not the time. There are worse things to worry about, like how she was possibly going to catch up on training if she was going on a mission? And w_here was Naruto?_

Before long, she had meandered to the office of the Sanhokage without even realizing it. It was good to know her autopilot still functioned in the midst of mental chaos. Her team mates stood in front of the door patiently waiting for her, but she kept her head down and avoided eye contact with both of them.

"Ready?" Kiba asked, placing a hand on the door.

Hinata nodded, and suspected Shino of doing the same. As the office opened, a waft of a strange herbal scent enveloped the party. Behind a wooden desk stained a deep crimson red sat Sasuke Uchiha, the appointed Third Shadow of Konoha. His hands were folded neatly across his lips as his elbows rested on the desk.

"Team Eight, right on time," he announced.

It was well-known that Sasuke's days of havoc were long over, and most of the villagers seemed confident knowing that he wouldn't have been appointed if Naruto wasn't 100% convinced of the turn of his new leaf. Regardless, he still had an aura about him that was perpetually unnerving, especially with the pungent incense he insisted on surrounding himself with. He claimed that it helped him to remain calm and aide in his decision-making, but who could have known what it was really for.

Nevertheless, the members of Team Eight approached him with the same respect they had with the previous solitary Hokages.

"A special meeting was held today between the Three Shadows and the Konoha Elders. The Ichihokage and the Nihokage have been asked to attend a Conference of Shadows. The reason for such remains confidential of course, but in the meantime, I'll be overseeing all the missions in Konoha for the next few days."

Hinata was about to ask about her sudden involvement, but Sasuke flashed her a look that said 'attempt to speak out of turn and you'll regret it.' She pinched her lips shut, but she could feel her cheeks flushing.

"Hinata, you've been out of the field for much too long. It's time you polished yourself up and did some good for the village."

_Instead of wasting time with fucking the Ichihokage_, his eyes seemed to say. She bit her lip.

"It'll be a simple C mission for now. You'll be transporting an item of importance to a client near one of the northern mountain villages. You shouldn't run into much trouble on the way, but keep your eyes open."

"What is the item in question?" Shino calmly inquired. His voice slithered up her back like a scaly lizard.

"A scroll. The contents are confidential, but very important to the client. Handle it with utmost care."

Hinata hoped that Kiba and Shino were paying attention, because she certainly wasn't. Her mind was boiling with questions. Why now was she suddenly being sent on this pointless mission? Where was Naruto? Why hadn't he come to her first about this?

Then, Hinata felt a hand gently cover her own, which was slick and clammy with sweat. She knew it could only be Shino's. Only he would be able to tell how much this was torturing her, and only he could calm her down about it. As frustrated as she was with him, the gesture was appreciated.

The rest of the meeting seemed like a fever dream. All she could concentrate on was Shino's touch, which seem to be the only anchor she had to reality. Fortunately, it wasn't long before the meeting was over, and the next thing she knew, she was standing outside with a packet of mission information in her hand and the members of Team Eight discussing their next steps.

"Well, that was uncomfortable as hell. Remind me why we elected him as our leader again?" Kiba asked rhetorically, hands casually folded behind his head.

"The Uchihas were our protectors once." Shino replied in his usual tone of total neutrality. He was never one for political confrontation.

"Yeah, but that was before he went psycho. I bet he's still just as psycho. It's only a matter of time before he explodes and Konoha gets swallowed up in the black flames of a raging scene kid."

Hinata remained silent, still contemplating the situation. Kiba turned to her.

"You know, the creeper's right, though. You really are out of practice, and our mission starts tomorrow morning. Why don't you come train with us for a while? At least until dinner?"

Hinata chewed on the corner of her lip. Regardless of her awkward feelings toward Shino, she did want to spend time with her old friends, and perhaps doing so would lessen the intensity of the situation. However, it was still imperative that she figure out what on earth was going on with her boyfriend.

"I..I'll meet you at the training grounds in a bit...there's something I have to check first."

Kiba and Shino exchanged a glance, then looked back at Hinata. Kiba shrugged in his usual nonchalant fashion.

"Alright then, but don't keep us waiting!" he quipped before mounting Akamaru and bounding off. Shino remained behind until he was out of earshot, then turned to Hinata. She looked up at him with inquisitive, silver eyes, expecting him to say something to her.

But he didn't. He didn't need to, really. Behind those enigmatic lenses was a person whom Hinata had always shared a sort of silent connection with. As a normal pair of friends might exchange a set of formalities such as "What's Wrong" and "Nothing really," Hinata and Shino knew each other well enough to skip all the nonsense. When Shino stood there looking for her, he was waiting for her to tell him what she needed to tell him.

"I just want to know one thing," she began.

"Hmm."

"Does all this seem unusual to you?"

Shino paused for a moment, then placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"I have experienced many unusual things. Having a mission assigned to you is not unusual. What is unusual is that you have not been on these missions due to your relationship with the Ichihokage."

_Thanks, Shino. I'll make sure to send you a postcard from my guilt trip,_ she thought to herself.

"...however, it is also unusual that someone who is in love with someone else leaves without telling that someone goodbye."

She looked at him, and he looked right back. With his goggles on, it was almost impossible to tell that only one eye was staring back.

"I...I'll meet you at the training grounds."

He nodded solemnly, then headed off.

~o~

End of Chapter 2


	3. Chapter 3

Coccoon

Chapter 3

When Hinata went back up to the living quarters, she still found absolutely no sign of her love. The bed had been neatly made and everything was put away and dusted. Had the Hokage Tower not have a cleaning service, this room would no doubt be a pig sty.

But the neatness of it was rather eerie, only because it seemed like Naruto never once set foot in the room. It felt...foreign.

She looked around for a note, but none could be found. Defeated, she plopped down on the edge of the futon and buried her face in her hands. She finally had a moment alone to think, but where to even begin?

Naruto...secret meeting...Sasuke...C rank mission...snowy mountains, Kiba...Naruto, Ichihokage, Shino...

She tried to form in all in her head. Why would Naruto leave...why would he not tell her? Why did she have to go on this inane mission? Why now? Why wouldn't he of told her?

She looked at the door, and imagined Naruto walking through, looking at her with his bright blue eyes and his charming smile.

"Sorry, Hina-chan. What a day! I tried to get to you but you were out. It was an emergency! I hope Sasuke told you everything. Oh, he didn't? That jerk! I told him that is was okay to tell you. Oh, I'm so sorry Hina-chan...let me make it up to you with a bowl of ramen at Ichiraku, huh?"

_Oh Hinata, you're so silly. This is probably all a huge misunderstanding and you're just getting paranoid. He'll be back in a few days, and in the meantime you get to do a nice easy mission with your friends. It'll be fun! What are you so worried about?_

A brief memory flashed by of Shino hugging Hinata under the streetlight, along with an intimate moment that followed...

_Oh, right..._

~o~

Hinata arrived at the training grounds a little while later, finding Shino and Kiba already engaged in a sparring match. It immediately occurred to her that the two men were dressed in much less than their usual garb. But of course, it was a hot summer day...why wouldn't they be fighting in only a pair of pants and sandals? Still, two men in peak physical condition with sweat-glazed muscles glistening in the sun was not helping the _itch _she'd been having. Hell, even Kiba looked appealing, if it wasn't for that sweaty dog odor that could be smelt from twenty yards away. No wonder he was seldom assigned to espionage missions.

But Shino, down to nothing but his black pants, sandals, and goggles, was a sight to behold. It was strange thing to Hinata...he was certainly fit, but no more than Kiba. He even had a bit of a tummy on him, but there was something about seeing him shirtless that was driving Hinata mad.

Again the palm of her hand dug its way into her temple. She almost considered turning and walking away, maybe finding an empty training ground on her own, until she was pounced on by a massive hairy beast.

"Akamaru! Down, boy!" she could hear faintly under the sound of heavy panting and barking. An enormous tongue dragged a thick layer of slime across her cheek. She winced in disgust, but a moment later the weight was yanked from her.

"Sorry about that, Hinata-chan. Akamaru just has a big crush on you...literally, it looks like! Haha!"

She slowly sat up and wiped the saliva off on her sleeve, then looked up to see Shino reaching out a hand to her, while Kiba was busy holding Akamaru off by his scruff. The whole situation just irritated her. She ignored Shino's offering and got to her feet herself, then placed her hands defiantly on her hips.

"Why are you training with no shirts on? Are you trying to impress me or something?" she quipped, moving forward with a teaspoon of courage that her irritation granted her.

"Has it impressed you?" Kiba replied with a grin. Hinata crossed her arms and stuck her nose in the air like a spoiled little princess.

"You forget my boyfriend is the Ichihokage!"

Kiba rolled his eyes, and finally shoo'd Akamaru away.

"Yeah it's really easy to forget when you announced it every single day for the past three years."

Hinata huffed and turned away in a pout. Of course, this is what she got for being snooty.

Shino finally broke his silence. "No one's trying to impress anyone. It's hot, and weather like this makes my beetles itchy. A few minutes of sparring and you'll want to be rid of that jacket as well."

Hinata's eyes widened. It was true that the day was particularly hot, and already her trusty lavender jacket was getting stuffy. But, she was never very fond of being in public places without a decent method of covering her bosom. It was terribly huge and inconvenient, and her sports bra often had trouble keeping it under control. Having to fight in just her bra would be a tremendous embarrassment for her.

It shouldn't have...the boys had seen her in less than this plenty of times before, especially during a mission that resulted in a cracked collarbone. The pain of it was enough to make her forget the ogling expression on Kiba's face. Regardless, her inconvenient itch for Shino made the situation terribly uncomfortable for her. To make matters worse, the moment she decided to remove her jacket, Kiba couldn't keep his mouth shut. Not about her breasts thank goodness, but about something else that had gotten a little too big.

"Look at those love handles! You've gone soft on us, Hinata! You trying to store up some meat and give Naruto a couple of kids?"

At that point, she wasn't sure whether to kill Kiba or herself. The fact that Kiba even had the nerve to reach out and pull at the bit of pudge on her hips practically had her in tears. Fortunately, Shino stepped in and yanked Kiba away by the greasy shoulder.

"That's enough. It doesn't matter how she's changed, she is still our team mate and still deserves our respect."

Shino's single eye glared at Kiba for a moment, but then he turned to Hinata with the same look. Had she had cat ears, they would have surely been folded back.

"However, I am disappointed that you haven't kept up your training to the point that you may not be in physical shape to carry on a mission properly. You really have been spoiled by your position."

Today just wasn't Hinata's day. Regardless, she wasn't about to give up on herself or her team. She had been through far too much to be brought down by some snarky commentary. She stiffened her shoulders and heightened her neck, and put on the kind of expression she usually wore when she meant business.

"I won't let it get in my way," she stated firmly.

Shino didn't smile at her, but his face softened, which was essentially the equivalent of a smile for one such as him.

"Alright, then. Let's get started."

~o~

They trained harder than Hinata ever remembered training. Or perhaps it was the same training and she simply didn't have the body for it...it was difficult to tell. All she knew that by the time the sun was setting, she was so winded and dizzy that she could hardly tell one teammate from the other.

"Hinata..." a voice called out. She could feel her body falling forward.

"Hinata, are you alright?"

Then she was on the grass. The nice, cool grass. There should have been pain, she thought...but she was too numb for pain. Then she was being lifted, and something wet was touching her lips. A kiss? No...too wet...a canteen.

She sipped tenderly at the stream of water, but most of it dribbled uselessly down her chin instead of nourishing her. The voices continued.

"I think she's had enough for now..."

"This damn heat. Poor thing...you should take our little girl home and make sure she gets rest."

Then, she was being carried. At least she thought she was being carried...she could have been floating for all she knew. This went on for an undetermined amount of time, until finally she felt herself being gently lowered into the cool sheets of her own futon. After a few moments of rest, she opened her eyes hazily to find Shino sitting neatly at the foot of her bed. She began to sit up to see him better, but he lightly touched her shoulder to halt her.

"Don't get up if you're still feeling unwell."

"I'm alright," she replied while sitting up completely. "What are you doing here?"

"You almost had heat stroke from all that training. I wanted to stay and make sure you were alright."

She sighed and treated him with a half-smile. That was her Shino, always looking after her no matter what. Not that he didn't have confidence in her ability to handle herself, by all means...but if she needed a leg-up, he was the first by her side. She certainly appreciated that about him, but having him so close in her private quarters was more than a little awkward, especially with her boyfriend still missing.

"Naruto still hasn't sent any word..." she thought out loud while giving a glance around the room for any of his notes.

"That seems to be so." Shino remarked. Hinata looked at him, hoping that mentioning her boyfriend would encourage him to leave. No such luck.

"Well, I really am feeling fine now. Thank you for looking after me."

"It's no problem at all."

He remained seated.

"I...I think I'll just go to sleep...big day tomorrow."

"Indeed so. Rest well, Hinata-san."

Finally, he began to take his exit. But as he faced away from Hinata, she was suddenly overcome with the cold, clenching hand of panic.

"Wait..."

He halted, and looked at her over his shoulder.

"Yes?"

She wasn't sure what to say. Anything to get him to stay a little longer...but why?

"I...w-was I...I mean...d-did I do well today?"

Shino's expression softened, then he went to her and knelt down to her level.

"Despite the circumstances, you did better than I expected. I'm confident that you'll do well on our mission tomorrow...as long as it isn't too hot."

Hinata bit her lip and looked at the floor. She then heard a noise that was rarely came from Shino...a soft chuckle. For a half a second, she thought she'd imagined it, but then she felt her chin being lifted up by a finger to face him. Her cheeks flushed a bright crimson, now realizing how close she actually was to him.

"I understand your fear, Hinata. It is painful to be away from someone you care about."

She looked at him curiously. He looked right back through those ominous goggles of his, and then proceeded to do something he had never done before. She almost didn't believe it was happening, but when he pressed his lips against her forehead, it was as if she had been kissed by the soft, fluffy wings of a flannel moth. It couldn't have been more gentle and delicate. When he pulled away, she was so confused by the gesture, her cheeks almost forgot to blush.

"Sleep well, Hinata. We have quite a lot of travel ahead of us tomorrow."

He left before her body could be released from its paralysis. When it did, the first thing she did was touch the spot on her forehead where the kiss had been planted. It was odd...although she should have been frothing with anxieties and confusion, all she felt at that moment was peace. She held onto that peace, knowing it was the only chance she would have of falling asleep that night.

When she closed her eyes, she dreamed of nothing.

~o~

End of Chapter 3


	4. Chapter 4

Cocoon

Chapter 4

~o~

Hinata awoke the next morning with a sense of clarity that she hadn't experienced in quite some time. It wasn't that she finally had and understanding of her situation, but for one reason or another, she felt much better about it. Armed with her sunny mood, she quickly packed her things and prepared for her journey.

When she arrived at the gates a wave of nostalgia washed over her like a warm summer breeze. Maybe it was the actual summer breeze gently tussling her hair about, but something about the way Shino and Kiba were standing there in the dim glow of the early sunrise ready for adventure just filled her heart with excitement.

Then, Akamaru pounced on her again.

"Akamaru! Down, boy! Sheesh, Hinata...ambushed already and you haven't even made it out of the gate yet! Are you sure you're ready for this?" Kiba teased while yanking his beast off of the trampled, dog-slime covered Hinata.

As she rose to her feet once more and wiped the saliva off her cheek, the anxieties of yesterday started to creep back into her consciousness like a trail of ants that just won't leave a kitchen no matter what you do. Was she really prepared to leave home for the first time in months? Would she be a burden to her team mates? Could Kiba's neck beard make him look anymore homeless?

Then she looked at Shino, who was solemnly staring at her from afar. Staring with his only eye, of course. It was then she decided that she couldn't possibly be a burden to her team. She was going to protect them, and ensure that neither of them suffered another permanent injury of that magnitude again.

"I'm ready," she stated firmly, a fierce look in her eyes. The expression made Kiba light up.

"Alright, that's my girl! Let's get a move-on!"

Then the team headed off on their first C rank mission together in years.

~o~

Hinata reveled in it. It was as if nothing had ever changed...the paths were still long and full of sights to see, the branches of the trees still carried a cool breeze as they leaped through the canopies. Even the occasional small-town gyoza cart was still open for business.

Their journey couldn't have been more pleasant if the road was paved in gold. Not a single road-side thief or rogue shinobi came across their path...not even a particularly aggressive wild animal even bothered them. They even managed to catch a ride on the wagon of a tradesman, which cut their mission length by almost a third. Kiba joked that the C rank was just there to scare them, and they might as well have just handed the mission to an ordinary mailman. That was of course, until they reached the mountain range.

It wasn't too terrible in the beginning. A small village near the base had even installed a lift, but that only took them halfway up through the forest that thickened the mountainside with tall, scratchy pines. The temperature dropped almost instantly once they reached the end of the lift, and soon Hinata was regretting not bringing a thicker jacket.

It was also getting late into the evening of the second day, and traveling the woods at night was never a smart idea, even with the amount of fortune that had graced them so far. So, the team quickly got a fire going and laid out their sleeping bags as they had done hundreds of times before. Kiba and Shino fastened some crude tents above their separate stations to keep the pine needles off of them, but Hinata decided she would sleep better under the canopy of the stars.

It had been a while since she'd slept out in the open, and at first the chilly evening didn't bother her. But once the fire began to flicker down to its cinders, and a light snow started fluttering down through the trees, Hinata quickly regretted her decision. She thought about putting up a covering, but the second she slipped from her sleeping bag, the cold was too much for her. She shrunk into her bag and clutched it around her, but it was already starting to get damp from the snowflakes. It wouldn't protect her through the night if the snow kept on as it did.

As she lay there contemplating how to resolve the situation, she felt a tingling sensation on her hand. When she lifted it to her eyes in the dim light, she noticed a little black beetle wandering about in circles on her skin. Upon closer inspection, it was none other than one of Shino's. She looked up through the darkness to Shino's sleeping area, and noticed that he was watching her. Not only that, but his arm was lifting the edge of his bag up to create an opening, as if to welcome her in.

The thought was certainly tempting, but considering the circumstances...and yet, it had always been purely for survival, right?

She looked over to Kiba, who was fast asleep under the warm belly of his dog. He would no doubt reek of the thing in the morning, but he showed no signs of waking anytime soon. With that, Hinata took a breath, leapt from her sleeping bag, then scurried over to Shino's tent as quickly as her feet would allow her, dragging her bag along with her.

"Throw your bag over mine, to seal in the heat," he whispered to her as she approached. She did just that, then squirmed in besides Shino in his over-sized bag. The difference was like night and day. Within moments, her body began to thaw and she regained feeling in her frozen little toes.

"Are your hands cold?" he asked her quietly.

She had been grasping them to her lips and trying to warm them with her breath. Her slender doll-like fingers were red and moist from the cold. Shivering, she nodded to him.

"Give them to me," he asked, while grasping them in his own before she even had time to object. The warmth of his hands was already enough to make them feel better, but then he started pulling them toward his waist.

"W-what are you doing?" she whispered in a panic, shocked that he would be so bold as to do what she suspected of him do. But then, he slid her hands under his coats and onto his bare stomach, where her hands were encased in an oven of heat. The feeling was so splendid, all the stiffness in her body simply melted away. She then felt his arms wrapping around her and pulling her closer, and she was enticed to return the embrace. Her cheek pressed against his chest, and her eyelids became heavy.

"Shino..." she whispered into his coat.

"Mmm."

"Is this okay?"

She wasn't entirely sure it was a clear enough question, but she wasn't sure how else to phrase it. Something felt wrong about it, but at the same time she couldn't have been happier to be there.

"Are you warm now?" he asked her.

"Mmmhmm..." her voice became softer as she began to fade.

"Can you sleep?"

"Mmm...hmm..." she moaned quietly, dozing off.

"Then it's okay."

"Okay," she muttered, before falling into deep, wonderful dreams.

~o~

She awoke at a time when the light of the sunrise was just barely peeking over the horizon. The fingers of cold from outside her cocoon were creeping in and tickling her nose, so she buried it further into the cloth in front of her. Underneath that cloth was the movement of steady breathing, and it was then she realized that she was not in her cozy bed in Konoha sleeping next to her significant other.

It was even more strange that she had somehow woken up _before_ her temporary sleeping partner. She had always remembered him to be the one nudging her awake, so she could get up before Kiba discovered their habits. Now, he was perfectly asleep.

Hinata took a moment to peek out of the bag and look for Kiba. The morning light was delicately painted over a decent layer of snow, and it was difficult to tell what was going out outside of their tent. But, with enough squinting she was able to make out the shape of two identical furballs wadded up under a crude canopy. It wasn't unusual for Kiba to twin fang during cold nights. The extra fur helped with sustaining the warmth. Either way, neither animal looked like they were planning on waking up anytime soon.

With that, Hinata withdrew back into her cocoon. Her nose was frosty from exposure, so she nuzzled her way back into Shino's clothing. It was amazing how much of a toaster oven this guy was. Why would an insect user have such immense body heat? Speaking of things Shino's body did, what was that she was feeling pressed up against her thigh?

She didn't have to guess, honestly. She knew very well what it was, and she knew that she had made its acquaintance just a couple of days ago. Of course, Naruto had the same reaction when sleeping next to her, but this was the first time she had experienced it with Shino. Why? What could have caused this reaction, even in the depths of sleep?

That's right...he was asleep. Hinata had Shino this close to her. She had remembered rumors of sightings in the bath house of an enormous beast hidden beneath Shino's towel, and it was more than a little tempting to see for herself. Carefully, she slid her hand in between her thigh and the pressure against it, and extended her fingertips to trace the size. In truth, she didn't know where it started and where it began, but she knew it was hungry. Knowing that... made her own beast start salivating as well.

She shouldn't go any further than this. She knew she shouldn't...especially because the man wasn't even awake. Besides, she had Naruto! What on earth was she trying to do, anyway? She asked herself this, while at the same time her hands were fondling the ties on his pants. Stop it, Hinata. It's not worth going any further than this. Even though you can see his bare skin...even if you can feel it...it's not worth it...

"What are you doing?"

She froze, then slowly made eye contact with a now very conscious Shino. Her face turned a shade of red that was unknown to nature. She wanted to say something, but no words could form in her throat. All she could do was stare.

His expression was oddly neutral. He didn't look particularly upset, he just had the same ol' scowl that his face normally rested in. But that one eye of his was looking deep into hers with an intense curiosity. An uncomfortable silence passed between them.

"You know...Hinata..." he suddenly whispered with a softness she had not heard before.

"...if you want to make love, all you have to do is ask."

She blinked. "Wha...w-w-what did you s-say?"

He frowned a bit. "I don't like repeating myself."

"I...I mean..."

What did she mean? It's not that she didn't hear it, it's that she couldn't believe those words would have the audacity to come from Shino's lips. How do you even respond to that?

"I...I have Naruto! I belong to Naruto!"

Shino sighed quietly. "You don't belong to anyone but yourself."

"But..." Hinata felt very tense. She didn't like where this was going, but she felt that she had seldom control over the outcome.

"But..." Shino continued, "If your wish to to remain loyal to him, I understand. I won't speak of it again."

Hinata felt a bit of relief a that point. When Shino said he wouldn't bring something up, he meant it. However, Hinata couldn't help herself from stepping her foot in the door before it closed completely.

"Well...I mean...it's...it's n-not that I don't..w-want to..."

Shino looked at her with an intense curiosity that sent a chill up her spine.

"I-I-I mean...I have...f-f-felt..."

"Hinata."

She clammed up immediately. She then felt the back of Shino's fingertips graze against her cheek, which then dragged a lock of her hair behind her ear.

"Calm down. I won't do anything you don't want to do, I was simply making an offer. You shouldn't have to feel so nervous around me."

Hinata closed her eyes and let out a deep, shaky exhale. "You're right...Shino...you just...caught me off-guard."

She felt his lips on her forehead as she did the other night...gentle, delicate, and deliberate, like an artist laying down a careful brush stroke. She took a second to savor the touch, but he pulled away as quickly as he had come. Her eyes remained closed.

"Do that again..." she whispered inaudibly, as if her mouth was speaking her thoughts without permission. But despite the subtlety of the request, the kiss came a second time.

"One more time," she asked, and the kiss remained for just a moment longer than before, but that made all the difference.

She waited a moment after the third kiss, wondering if she should continue. Who would care if she did? This was their cocoon. A place of warmth and safety. No one could find out her secrets in here. So she spoke up once again.

"On the nose." That one was especially pleasant, as the tip of her nose had become frosty from the cold.

"On the cheek." Her right cheek lit up from the contact.

"On the other cheek." The left was evened out.

"On the..." she paused. No...she shouldn't. But he was already there...his breath on hers..prepared. But he would not make a move without her permission. She knew that now. She could wish a blade at his throat and if she commanded another inch, it would draw blood without question. Her heart was audibly pounding in her chest. This was the icebreaker...everything else could be counted as friendship, as platonic brotherly love, but not this. These lips were reserved for the Ichihokage. It would be sin to allow someone else to take them...

"On the lips..." she whispered with a voice more silent than hers.

Oh, how heavenly a sin could be. It was as if angels had carved him out of a divine stone just to fit her lips with an absolute perfection. He body lit up like a wildfire, and she knew right then and there that she had been swept into a vortex that was far more violent and dangerous than the average itch. His form moved against her like an undercurrent, pulling her in faster than she could prepare for. She could feel his hand slide along her thigh to hoist her leg around him, and all at once her garden was face to face with the pressure of his hunger for her. It drove her mad. It was happening so quickly...and when his tongue pressed against her lips to enter her own she felt the tingling of a dozen terrible things enter along with it.

She yanked away as fast as she could, tears leaping from the corners of her eyes.

"This was a mistake..." she squealed, scurrying out of the sleeping bag like an ant escaping a cave-in.

"Hinata..." Shino called out in a hushed voice.

"This was a mistake...this was a mistake...I shouldn't have done this...this was a mistake.." Hinata gasped repeatedly through hot tears, finally worming herself free of the cloth prison.

"Hinata wait...I'm sorry...come back, it's so cold out...you're barely dressed..."

The ankle-deep snow didn't seem to bother her at all, even with bare feet. But after scampering away into the woods with nothing but her typical kuonichi garb, it quickly became apparent that she wasn't suited for this weather at all. Regardless, the sting of the cold forced her to calm down an attempted to recollect herself. She shrunk down into a ball on the root of a tree that was emerging just enough to be free of the snow, and she proceeded to sink her face in her arms and weep.

~o~

Shino found her around the time her feet became completely numb. While she really had no desire to speak to him, she knew that the alternative would result in dangerous secrets getting out. Without saying a word, he draped her in a big, thick forest-green coat and knelt down beside her.

"You're going to get frost bite on your feet, Hinata. I know you're upset, but you know better then that."

She refused to lift her head up from her arms. Yet, she felt him yank her feet out from under her and shove them into a pair of woolly boots that were two sizes too big. The force made her realize just how cold she actually was, and she immediately wrapped the coat around her while trying to control the chattering of her teeth.

Shino sighed and wrapped the coat around her tighter, then rubbed her shoulders briskly to warm her. She was much too cold to deny him.

"I won't speak of anything. It never happened and it will never happen again."

She finally made eye contact with him, but they were hidden behind his goggles. His lips were still slightly reddened, the only physical proof of what had just occurred.

"Let's go wake up Kiba, and focus on the mission. Then it will be over with, and you'll be back in Konoha with the man you love."

The statement gave her mixed feelings, but she was too frozen to analyze them. All she did in response was nod.

~o~

End of Chapter 4


	5. Chapter 5

Cocoon

Chapter 5

~o~

Hinata didn't completely thaw out until after the crew had lit a small fire and had a quick breakfast. Fortunately she didn't suffer any frostbite, but her pace had slowed down quite a bit. Of course, it could have very well been the big woolly boots that Shino had lent her, but at least she was equipped for the cold.

It took them about four hours of marching up an increasingly harsher environment before they finally came across the mountain cottage their mission had aimed for. It was a peculiar structure, surrounded by thick, natural stone walls that sheltered it from the blizzards, but the entrance looked like a weird hybrid between temple a generic Japanese-style house. As the team approached it, a tiny little old man with a droopy, thin white mustache peeked out of the sliding doors.

"Ahhh, you must be the messengers from Konoha! You certainly made good time! Come in, come in! Have some tea! You must be freezing!" he called out in a crackly little voice.

Hinata, Kiba, and Shino exchanged glances, then proceeded in without another word. The instant they stepped inside, a gust of cozy warmth surrounded them. Hinata took a moment to look about the strange room she had entered, cautious of any hidden danger. This was an unfamiliar location with an unfamiliar person, but despite her weariness of the unknown, the interior was glowing with friendly hospitality. It was large, brightly lit, and fairly plain save for a few prayer scrolls adorning the walls. At the back was a hearth with a modest fire that was warming up a pot of tea, and in the center was a small wooden table, surrounded by plump, silk pillows.

The man himself had a crinkly smile like a beloved grandfather, and he took no time in setting up a tea tray for the four visitors. The scent of the steaming liquid was sweet, flowery and alluring.

"I'll ask that you leave your hound at the entrance. He's a bit muddy and I don't want him staining the mats. I hope that's alright with you, Inuzuka-san."

"You know my name?" Kiba asked, startled.

"Oh yes, I'm very familiar with the families of Konoha. I've done business with the village for ages," he chattered on while setting up the tea on the table.

"Well we've certainly never heard of you," Kiba replied rather sharply while removing his footwear to enter. Hinata and Shino did the same.

"I prefer to keep my transactions confidential, as I'm sure your Hokage mentioned. As Shinobi you can certainly understand the importance of secret-keeping, correct?"

"That is correct, but it would be rude of us to accept this hospitality without knowing our host's name," Shino responded cordially, while taking a seat on one of the pillows. Hinata took a seat diagonally from him, and tried to avoid eye-contact.

"Ah, a sharp one you are, Aburame-san. I am known by many names to many of my peers, but for now you may call me Z-san," the old man quipped while filling Shino's cup.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Z-san," Hinata mentioned quietly while providing a light nod of the head.

"Ah, those eyes. You are no doubt a descendant of the prestigious Hyuga clan..."

Mr. Z had a peculiar tone in his voice when he mentioned her name, as if he had some sort of special interest in her. As he poured her tea, she stared at her hands that were balled up nervously in her lap. It was odd for her to behave this way...she could usually keep her social awkwardness under control on missions, but the surrounding circumstances were wearing her thin. She wanted to prove herself to her team mates, but the journey so far had been insultingly tame...and after the events of the morning, followed up by this insipid tea party, the whole thing felt like a joke.

"Z-san, I'm afraid we can't stay for long. We are only here to deliver the scroll, then we must be on our way," Shino stated while reaching into his backpack. Mr. Z poured himself a cup of tea, then sat at the head of the table.

"Ah yes, the scroll. I presume it has been properly sealed? You didn't come across any trouble on the way, did you? This is a very important and confidential document, you see."

"No trouble, and it is sealed so that only the intended recipient can open it," Shino responded while handing over the tightly wrapped scroll. As the item grazed the aging, bony fingertips of Mr Z., a glint of light flickered in his eye. He lay the scroll on the table, muttered some inaudible incantation, then the seal burst in a puff of paper. As he unraveled it, he got to his feet and stepped away, mumbling the text to himself in privacy.

The team stared quietly at their cups of tea, not a single one of them with any desire to actually taste it. Despite its sweet smell, Hinata was too wound up in anxiety to try it, Shino was focused on Mr. Z's response, and Kiba was plucking at his beard in boredom.

A few minutes past with the occasional "Hmm," "Ahh," and "I see, I see," coming from Mr. Z before he finally faced the team and promptly tossed the scroll into the flames behind him. This wasn't an entirely unusual thing to see someone do with important information, but something about the gesture seemed off. The man looked at the team with a strange expression.

"I deeply apologize for the inconvenience, but I'm afraid this will be a one-way trip for you fine folks."

"E-excuse me?" Hinata replied meekly, not entirely sure what he was implying.

"Well you see my dear, this is one of those kill-the-messenger type situations where you simply cannot continue living with the knowledge you've obtained."

"What knowledge? We didn't read anything in the stupid scroll, it was sealed. Why the hell do we need to be offed for that?!" Kiba barked, who looked as if he was caught in the middle of a stupid prank.

"Oh you know more things than you realize, young man."

The three stepped away from the table, and before long the three became four, when Akamaru jumped right beside Kiba, muddy paws and all.

"Oh, now look at that. You've ruined my mats! You'll be the first to go, I think."

With that, the man snapped his fingers and suddenly both Kiba and Akamaru had collapsed to he ground, clutching and pawing at their ears and wincing in pain.

"What did you do to them?!" Hinata shouted, now in full defensive stance in front of her fallen team mate.

"It's amazing what simple things can disable a dog. Hear that noise? Neither can I, but your friend and his filthy animal certainly can."

Hinata heard the familiar sound of an angry, buzzing swarm beside her, and Shino was prepared for the offense.

"Ah, the beetles. How quaint...you Aburame really are a pathetic sort resorting to mere bugs as your means of attack..."

With another snap of his fingers, the doors surrounding the room snapped open, revealing rows upon rows of vibrant, glistening carnivorous plants. Within an instant, Shino's swarm was coerced to certain doom, floating their way without hesitation into the maws and tentacles of the vicious vegetation. Shino of course reacted in all the manner a father would act if his own child wandered into a busy street, helplessly whimpering the hundreds of names he had granted to each beetle.

"Byakugan!" Hinata screamed, and without hesitation, she lunged at the old man with the ancient slicing fists of her ancestors. But when her fingers slid through thin air, she felt a hard thwack against the back of her head.

"Ah, the legendary Byakugan! What a sight to behold. But of course, even that had its flaws..."

She tried to focus her vision, but any glimpse of the man's chakra quickly darted away. She heard the quick whisper of a kunai fly behind her, followed by the clink of another one that deflected it. She eyed Shino, who despite lacking his colony, was resorting to what he knew of taijutsu, and defended her blind spot from behind. She scanned the room for any sign of him, and turned one way, then the other...WHACK!

Another hard hit from behind, blacking her out for a moment. Too long of a moment...a Hyuuga's sight was vital. Sure enough, when she opened her eyes, the man stood before her, clear as day, with Shino's arms twisted thoroughly behind his back, and a menacingly sharp knife aimed at his remaining eye. The man grinned a sly grin at Hinata, who froze in her tracks.

"He's almost entirely useless with half his vision, isn't he? He left your blind spot vulnerable like a rabbit in an open field. Might as well blind the poor bastard entirely, I think..."

"NO!" She yelped, her Byakugan melting away with her tears.

"Oh, what a sad, pitiful little girl you are...defeated in less than a minute and you cry like a baby."

"Please...don't hurt him..." she whimpered, falling to her knees.

"I bet this other eye is your fault, isn't it? You weren't there to protect him, and now he gets himself caught as easy as this. Now, it'll be your fault for the second one, too..."

Hinata closed her eyes tightly, and gripped her hands to her face, completely breaking down.

"I'm sorry...I failed you..."

"Oh, no you don't. You don't get to hide behind your hands..."

She heard him approaching, Shino's body dragging along with him.

"You have to watch your failures happen, like a good little girl."

He was closer...he was going to grab her...

And she looked up at his eyes, her own furiously locked in the intense ocular nerves of her Byakugan.

"_Hakke Hyakunijuuhachishou!_"

He was hers. The man dropped Shino to the ground, in awe, now understanding the grave mistake he had made. Shino pressed himself tightly to the ground in an effort to avoid the oncoming onslaught.

"Two! Four! Six!" The strikes were quick, and brutal.

"Eight! Sixteen! Thirty-two!" They flashed quicker than the man could even recognize.

"Sixty-four!" He was like a clay lump in her fists, and she was breaking him and forming him into something else. She paused for a moment, giving the man only an instant to witness her.

"_One Hundred and Twenty Eight Palms!_"

Shino held his hands tightly over his head, holding his breath, but it was forced out of him when the man landed unconscious across his back. Within seconds, he was being yanked by the arms up to his feet.

"Come on, hurry..help me get Kiba and Aka out of here!"

Hinata pulled Kiba onto her back, and Shino, after finding his breath, hoisted the enormous dog up as best as he could. It was no easy task, especially while the enormous beast squirmed and writhed in pain. But, they managed to drag the two out and far away enough from the temple that they could finally find peace in their ears again. Then, they ran. They didn't stop to think...they only fled.

~o~

End of Chapter 5


	6. Chapter 6

Cocoon

Chapter 6

~o~

When the team finally felt that they had reached a safe distance, they made camp near a small stone cliff with enough indentation to guard them from the winds, but not so much that it actually formed a legitimate cavern. It did provide shelter and was a lot less moist than other locations, but the team was to fearful to light a fire. Kiba placed a camouflage ward around the area, but they couldn't be too careful.

As they were setting up their sleeping bags, Kiba was the first to address the elephant in the camp.

"So...what the hell was that all about?"

"What do you mean, Kiba-kun?" Hinata replied, her voice laden with exhaust.

"You know exactly what I mean, Hinata. We basically just walked into a death trap specifically designed for us. It's a miracle Shino can still see."

Hinata bit her lip and concentrated on setting up her little corner. Her sleeping bag was still damp and reeked of mildew, but at least it took her mind off the impending guilt bomb waiting to drop on her.

"A mission is a mission. We delivered the message, and escaped alive, that's all that matters." Shino stated calmly, while removing his boots and setting them neatly by his bag.

"A mission my ass. Our mission was to be disposed of...maybe we aren't supposed to be here right now..."

"What are you saying? You're scaring me, Kiba..." Hinata's attention was now undivided.

"I'm betting that lunatic Uchiha is behind this...I bet he's still pissed about everything...he wants to kill us all off, one mission at a time..."

"The only lunatic here is you, Kiba. Give it a rest. We've had a long day and we'll have a longer one tomorrow. Get some sleep."

With that, Shino crawled into his bag and rolled over without another word.

"Hmph...well, keep those eyes open, Hinata. I have a feeling we're not out of the woods yet."

"But we aren't out of the woods...we're still in them."

"You know what I mean! Sheesh! I'm going to bed. C'mon, Aka."

As Kiba and Akamaru wandered off to their side of the camp, Hinata looked down at her soggy sleeping bag. It really didn't look all that appealing, and she really didn't want to sleep by herself after the whole fiasco. But what choice did she have? What she really wanted was Naruto, but he was miles and miles away, in some foreign land in some foreign meeting with some grumpy bearded weirdos who probably bored him out of his mind. She chuckled at the thought for a moment, then remembered how lonely she was being so far away.

Defeated, she lifted up the edge of her sleeping bag, and began to slip her foot in, then something hideous skittered out from it. She gasped sharply and fell back, landing in the wet leaves behind her. Her eyes began to well up once again, and she kicked her sleeping back with utter frustration before huddling in a ball in the moist earth.

"Hinata...?" That all too-familiar voice softly called out from the darkness.

"Leave me alone, Shino..." She whimpered, her face buried in her knees.

"Did something scare you?"

"No..."

"Come here."

She turned to him, reluctantly, and saw exactly what she hoped she wouldn't see...Shino's inviting sleeping bag lifted up for her to slip into.

"I won't do anything you don't want to do. I just want to make sure you're rested."

She sighed, and caved in...like she knew she would. She didn't regret it, either. His sleeping bag was perfectly dry and cozy. As she wormed in next to him, she looked up at his goggle-less face.

"I was really scared today, you know...I don't know how you can be so cool about it."

"I was only so because I didn't want you to be scared."

She looked into his eye. It glistened in the dim light.

"If you want to know the truth Hinata, I have never been more terrified in my life. I was truly expecting to go blind, and for a moment I almost wished it, believing it would save me from seeing you...get k-"

He swallowed hard on the last word. Hinata wasn't sure how to react to this...she had ever seen this level of emotion in him.

"When you caught him, I was so proud of you. I thought of how much you've grown with us, and how much stronger you've become. I'm glad that you are just as capable of protecting us as we are of you, if not more."

She felt her cheeks grow hot. "Th-th-thank you...Sh-shino-kun, that really means a lot to me..."

The back of his fingers gingerly stroked her cheek. "You're so warm."

His words made her pull back a bit...they were words that didn't come from Shino Aburame. What was with him?

"I'm...sorry," he pulled his hand away. "I said I wouldn't do anything if you didn't want to."

"It's...okay..." she muttered. She really should have just left, maybe go see if Kiba had room in his bag...ugh, but that dog smell...

"You should go to sleep. I won't touch you anymore, I promise." He began to roll away from her, but Hinata, suddenly hesitant, grabbed his shoulder.

"Wait, I don't want to be alone..."

"You're not alone, I'm right next to you."

"No, it doesn't count, you have to face me, or else I'll be by myself."

"Hinata..."

His expression was dimly lit, but it truly looked troubled.

"Please?" she asked softly.

"I can't, Hinata..."

"Why?"

"I just can't..."

She stared at his back, and felt how tense his body had become. His behavior was truly troubling her, so she couldn't help but press him further.

"Shino...why are you acting like this?"

He faced her abruptly then, gripping her cheeks in his palms.

"Because I can't control it anymore!"

His voice was a whisper, but a sharp and intense one. His remaining eye stared with such fret, it made Hinata go stiff.

"Wha..." was all she could manage.

"Don't you understand? For years, I've slept beside you, holding you, keeping you warm. I've watched over you, watched you grow up from an innocent little girl to a such a strong and respectable kuonichi. I...savored being so close to you, Hinata, but no matter how much I desired something more, I had to keep myself in order... because for some bizarre reason I still have yet to fully comprehend, you wanted to be with that imbecile you call your boyfriend. But I respected that, because it was your heart, and your choice. I stood aside, and was simply happy that you were happy. But now...it's been harder. It's been so much more aggravating because I know how he treats you...he barely has any time for you at all, now that he is the Hokage...isn't that so?"

Hinata couldn't bring herself to respond. All she could do was stare doe-eyed, feeling the hot, salty wells of tears beginning to spill forth for the thirty-seventh time this evening.

"You know, I wanted him to treat you better. I wanted him to love you as much as you love him, because you deserve that, you deserve it so much. I lost half my vision and all I could think was 'thank goodness Hinata wasn't here, or this would have been her eye, not mine.' Not five hours ago I almost lost my vision, I almost saw you lose your life, and I was so terrified...So I can't do it anymore, Hinata...I can't let you lie here next to me and not kiss you, and not hold you in my arms and know you're safe in them. I can't stop myself from making love to you and giving you every ounce of affection that you worked so hard for and waited so long for...so I have to turn away, because I know I'm not the one you want to be with."

_Oh, Shino..._she thought to herself. _My poor, beloved Shino_. If only he knew how important he was to her...how her relationship to him couldn't be put into words. He was more important to her than Naruto, she knew then. She didn't want to taint this special bond they had with something as vile and utterly temporary as a romantic relationship. She would trade the world for Shino, and she would rather die than live in a world without him.

But how could she say something like that out-loud and have it make any sense at all? Her heart and mind was entirely topsy-turvy, but she had to give him something. She had to show it, somehow. Without another word, she reached up an cupped his face in her delicate hands.

She stared longingly into his eye, her own glistening and pink from her tears. Without another word, she placed her lips firmly on his. She decided that she would give herself to him completely, if just for a night. She was still the significant other of the Hokage, and that couldn't change, but she felt like this was something that should have happened long ago and never did.

Like the Ichihokage had once unlocked the prison of the great Kuruma, Hinata's kiss unleashed an ancient and growing passion that had been clawing at the walls for decades. His arms wove themselves around her and squeeze her to him so desperately, as if her body would save his life. He dove into her kiss just before pulling away, just enough to see her face. Another one of their silent conversations passed. The words were clear to each other just in their expression.

_May I have you? All of you?_

_Yes, I'm all yours..._

And he did have her. His lips and fingers traveled across her body like a spiritual walk-about. His kisses along her neck were so perfectly smooth and moist, it was if he had been crafting them for years just to fit along the indentations in her skin. She could feel her clothing being unzipped and unbuttoned and tugged away. It wasn't long before she could feel her bare flesh pressed against that of Shino's, secured by a thin layer of hot moisture. They were completely naked faster than she had expected, and the excitement of it was new and exillerating. She entwined a leg around his, and felt that all-too-familiar pressure against her petals. She was slick now, and swollen. It seemed bigger than before, and she breathed in, realizing that not only were the rumors true, they were underexaggerating.

"Are you ready?" he murmured into her ear, preparing himself before her loins.

"I've done this before you know..."

"Not with me."

As he began to enter her, she realized what he meant. No, she wasn't ready, not at all...but she didn't want it to stop. He filled her so thoroughly, she felt as if she had never once been truly whole until this moment. Her gasp was deep, and a bit too loud.

"I'm not hurting you, am I?"

"Go slow..."

So he did. Oh, it was like chaos and order all rolled into some new reality. The sweat was thick, made so by the insulated walls of their cocoon. Her legs pretzeled around him, pulling him in deeper, and preventing him from leaving too much.

"Ah...Hinata...don't...I'll...oh..."

Suddenly, and all too quickly, she felt him spasm. After a moment of seizing up, he sighed, then gave her a look of utter shame.

"I'm...sorry...I've just...been waiting a long time, so..."

She smiled and ran her fingers through his sleek strands of hair.

"It's okay. I'm happy I could make you happy."

He slipped himself from her, then lay on his back, panting softly. After a few seconds of catching his breath, he turned to her.

"Do you...want it to be your turn now?"

Hinata blinked in surprise. Now that...was something she hadn't heard in a very long time.

~o~


	7. Chapter 7

Cocoon

Chapter 7

~o~

The journey home was about as peaceful as the journey forth. While it did take quite a bit longer due to the lack of a passing salesman with room in his cart, no assassin ever came lurking from the shadows to finish the job, much to the team's relief. Kiba never ceased to be on edge, but Shino and Hinata remained silent and placid as they normally did. Practically the only event that set them back was some berries the team had decided to snack on mid-way. While the boys quite enjoyed them, they didn't agree with Hinata. After relieving herself of the contents of her stomach, Hinata spent a good portion of the journey on Akamaru's back.

When the team finally laid eyes on the gates of Konoha, Hinata was suddenly overwhelmed with a sense of unease. What if Kiba was right? What if they weren't meant to be here? What kind of welcome would they face?

As they entered the bustling village, they were greeted with the usual apprehensive nod by the guards, but no one seemed to be particularly suspicious, but that didn't ease Hinata's paranoia. After a while, Shino pointed it out that she had slipped into her Byakugan without even noticing it. Kiba even jumped a bit when he looked around and found her with her bulging, veiny, lunar-like vision.

"Holy hell, Hinata! I swear I will never get used to how creepy that looks. Give me a head's up before you do that, okay?"

Hinata quickly returned her eyes to normal, then looked at the ground, ashamed. Shino placed a hand on her shoulder and whispered to her quietly.

"Are you alright?"

"I feel so nervous...my stomach is full of knots."

"Hmm...how'about you go take a bath and go home? Kiba and I will take care of the mission report."

"I don't want to go home."

She had meant to keep that thought in her head, but some deep fear that was gnawing inside her had let it slip from her lips.

"Would you like to come to my place then? I'll make us some tea."

"That...does sound nice," she mumbled before biting her lip. She looked at him with honest eyes.

"But I meant what I said that morning...I don't want anything between us to go any farther. I'm still with Naruto, and I want to be with Naruto," she whispered.

"As you wish," Shino replied rather curtly. The tone in his voice made it feel as if a snake had bitten her.

"I'm sorry, Shino-kun..."

"It's alright," he declared without looking at her, "Go take your bath and do as you will. As I said I'll take care of the report."

With that, Shino marched ahead, forcing Kiba and Akamaru to speed up their pace. Hinata was left alone in the crowded street that led up to the Hokage tower. She stood there in silence, watching them disappear into the masses, and the pains in her abdomen writhed around relentlessly. Perhaps a bath would do her some good.

~o~

About half an hour later, Hinata was submerged to her neck in the steamy waters of the Konoha Onsen. While the stomach pain seemed to have yielded for the time being, her thoughts never lightened. It was a peculiar time to be in the spring, so it was empty save for another woman on the opposite side of the pool. While she looked somewhat familiar, Hinata was certain she'd never met her. However, it seemed that the woman knew something about Hinata from the way she was staring at her. The woman was somewhere in her thirties, with a slender build and somewhat short, wild hair. What was particularly odd was that she was wearing a pair of round sunglasses, which made Hinata feel all the more uncomfortable since her eyes were hidden.

The woman looked at Hinata as if she had pissed in the spring. She also kept scratching at the inside of her arms uncomfortably.

"Can I help you with something?" Hinata finally asked a bit sharply, tired of her judgmental gaze. The woman said nothing, but simply wrapped herself up in her towels and left the spring, leaving it the entire pool to Hinata.

This just weighed even more on the anxieties swarming about in her. Everything was normal until she had been assigned to this stupid mission, which honestly was the strangest mission she could recall taking on. All she wanted was to go home and find Naruto waiting for her, ready to accept her back into his arms.

But what about Shino? Could she spend the rest of her days with that secret locked away and look at Naruto with a straight face? The thought made her feel sick...or maybe it was the herby smell of the hot spring. Either way, it was probably best she went home.

As she had expected, her room was empty and neatly cleaned by the maid. Defeated, Hinata dragged her feet to the futon, collapsed onto it, and buried her face in the pillows. For a moment, she thought she caught a whiff of Naruto's shampoo. She inhaled deeply, believing that if she thought about him hard enough, it would summon him to her. It seemed to work plenty of times before, why not now?

Suddenly, Hinata heard a knock on her door. She almost thought she had hallucinated it for a moment, but a second knock shortly followed. Had her summoning thoughts actually worked? She rushed to the door and swung it open frantically...revealing a short woman that Hinata didn't recognize.

"Er...yes?" Hinata asked, confused. The woman bowed politely.

"Good Afternoon Hyuuga-san. I'm from the Konoha Hospital, and I'm here to let you know that your annual birth control shot is now due. Please proceed to the hospital to receive your shot within the next two weeks, or you will have to wait for the next round."

Hinata barely comprehended what the woman was saying, but she knew that Naruto wasn't a part of it.

"Oh, okay...thank you," Hinata replied. The woman bowed again and handed her a card with the information, then wished her a good day before going on her way. Hinata closed the door and pressed her back to it, then slid down to a sit, fiddling with the card absent-mindedly.

It was only when her eyes actually met the words on the card that she realized what it meant.

~o~

By the time Hinata reached the doors of the hospital, it was already after hours. Desperately, she smacked the glass with her palm, hoping to get someone's attention, but to no avail. Tears welled up in her eyes...she wasn't sure if she could handle waiting until tomorrow. She needed to know and she needed to know soon.

Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, she spotted a staff member exiting out a side door. When she rushed to the person in question, she stopped short when she realized it was Ino Yamanaka. She thought about running, but Ino noticed her before she could.

"Good Evening Hinata-chan, are you okay? What are you doing at the hospital so late?"

Well, it was this or not knowing.

"Ino-san...I know...you're not exactly the best at keeping secrets, but I really need your help.."

Ino gave her a troubling look.

"Did Sakura tell you that?! I'll have you know that doctor-patient confidentiality is very important to me! If you have a medical issue, I'm sworn to secrecy!"

Hinata wasn't entirely confident with that answer, but she didn't have much of a choice.

"I need...I...n-n-need...a.a...a-a p-p-pregnancy t-test." Hinata managed to sputter out.

Ino's eyes grew as big as pomegranates. "Hinata-chan, you're pregnant?! Oh my goodness, Naruto's going to freak!"

Hinata waved her hands at her nervously, trying to lower her volume. "Ino, please! I don't know that yet...please just help me see if I am..."

Ino patted her gently on the shoulder. "Don't worry Ms, Hyuga, I'll get you sorted out. Come on 'round the back. It's pretty quiet at this hour."

Hinata nodded nervously.

~o~

A little while later, Hinata was waiting in a dim examination room with her hands folded over her knees, and a bandaid over the inside of her arm where Ino had drawn some blood for sampling. She mentioned it was the most accurate way to determine pregnancy, so Hinata had consented despite her distaste for needles. She was so weak from the blood loss and so thoroughly wound up in anxiety that she was almost trembling.

All this time she had thought she had just had an allergic reaction to some wild berries, but now her nausea was starting to take a different turn. When was the last time she had been through a cycle? Two weeks? Three? Even if she had had sex with Shino, she couldn't have possibly been impregnated in such a short amount of time, right? No, if she was pregnant, it had to be Naruto's. But what if it wasn't?

She gripped her arms tightly and held herself. She wanted someone by her side, but who? Naruto? She pictured how his face would light up if she told him she was having his son. She smiled at the thought, but then his expression quickly turned to distraught as she told him she had betrayed him with Shino. Why had she been so stupid?!

Well...maybe, maybe she was overreacting. Maybe she simply was sick from the berries, and there was nothing to worry about at all. Ino would come in and tell her sorry, maybe next time. Then she could go home, crawl into her futon, and wait for Naruto to return. Maybe she could even explain to him the event with Shino, and they could talk it out and everything would be okay...

Hinata jumped as the door to the room flung open, and in walked Ino with a sheet of paper, smile as wide as Konoha itself. Hinata's heart sank to her belly.

"Congratulations, future mommy!" She said with an irritating cheeriness. She then wrapped her arms around Hinata and began rambling about how proud Naruto will be and how Konoha history will be made and...oh, of course! She needed to start taking vitamins if she wanted a healthy baby! She also knew of a prenatal yoga class she could get her into for cheap...

Truthfully, Hinata couldn't hear a word of it. All she could think of is what to do next. Surely she should be happy about this, shouldn't she? No, of course not. She thought about sneaking off and having it terminated...maybe that would be for the best. She couldn't do it here, not with every nurse in Konoha aware of who she was. Besides, could Ino really keep her doctor/patient confidentiality?

~o~

Not forty-eight hours later, Hinata found that the answer to that question was "No, she can't." While on the way to pick up some groceries, at least three villagers were smiling at her with an air of knowledge they shouldn't have. As the grocery cashier handed her her change, she bowed politely to her and said "Congratulations, Ms. Hyuga." Hinata sighed, bowed her head, and left without saying a word.

Everything was irritating. The day was wretchedly hot, and the mosquitoes were especially hungry for her. As she made her way home, she kept feeling the delicate sting of their presence along her arm, and she would periodically slap them away. Eventually she managed to swat one, but when she lifted her arm away, she found not the crushed carcass of a mosquito, but that of a very familiar beetle.

"Shit..." she whispered to herself, then looked up and all around her. No sign of anyone, and no sign of him...was he stalking her? She looked at her arm and noticed the beetle was no longer there. Was she hallucinating?

She felt a strong pinch on her other arm, and she looked for the source of the pain without attacking. Another one of his beetles appeared. Hinata kept her vision focused on it so intensely that she almost started slipping into her Byakugan. The beetle was behaving her oddly, as if it was trying to dig into her skin. Without feeling anything more, Hinata watched in horror as the beetle slipped into her flesh.

Before she could scream, a voice called her name behind her.

"Hinata...?"

She looked up to find Shino a few feet away, reaching his arm out towards her as if to keep her from running. She quickly turned back to her arm, and saw no sign of the beetle at all. She must be losing her mind.

"What is it Shino?" She said sharply, refusing to face him.

"There's...been rumors circulating..."

Hinata remained still. "What about them?"

"It's...it's mine, isn't it?"

Shino sure did know how to get to the point. Hinata shot him a glare adorned with bulging veins.

"No, it's not yours. It's Naruto's. We had sex before I left on the mission. It's his."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure."

"Hinata..."

She was a typhoon of rage, fear, and loneliness. He didn't come any closer, her body language was clear to him. Yet his expression carried one of pity and concern.

"Hinata if there's any chance that it's mine...you have choices. I can help you."

"Choices?!" She barked. "What kind of choices? Everyone in the village knows I'm pregnant thanks to fucking loud-mouth Ino, and they all think I'm carrying the son of the Ichihokage! Just what choices are you expecting me to make?!"

His hand kept twitching, as if he wanted nothing more than to touch her. His normal calm demeanor was crumbling. "We can say you miscarried..."

"What will that prove? That I'm unfit to carry his child? What kind of girlfriend would I be?! Besides, I have no reason to! This is Naruto's child!"

"Hinata...there are things about carrying an Aburame child...if there's any chance..."

"There's no chance!"

"Hinata, please! Be reasonable!" His hand reached for her, and within an instant she stunned it with a slice of her gentle palm. He yelped and retracted quickly, gripping his wrist. He looked at her with a pained emotion that made her feel like she was made of ice. Without another word, she turned and fled as fast as she could.

When she reached her living quarters, she threw her groceries in the corner, locked the door and the windows, then dove into the sheets of her futon. She buried her face in her pillows and screamed.

~End of Chapter 7~


	8. Chapter 8

Cocoon

Chapter 8

~o~

A month passed, and it was becoming increasingly clear to Hinata that whatever mysterious quest had beckoned her boyfriend away was taking much longer than previously anticipated. Still, no news was good news she supposed, but she wondered if the rumors of her pregnancy had managed to reach him, why he would not come flying back in full sage form as fast as humanly possible.

Perhaps it was due to the fact that she was keeping her secret on the down-low, and refused to acknowledge any congratulations or praise. For that matter, she seldom left her living quarters at all these days, fearing the worst. It took longer than expected, but the worst finally happened...rumors of her pregnancy reached Hiashi Hyuga's ears, and now he was summoning her to the Hyuga Estate. Hinata dreaded it, but there was no way she could refuse.

As she walked hesitantly towards her old childhood home, she went over the various scenarios that could possibly occur. Would she risk lying to her father, and possibly buy some time until Naruto arrived to discuss the situation? Or would she take an even greater risk in telling the truth, and sealing her pregnancy as the only possible path ahead. Well, not so much the truth...a half truth. She was pregnant, to be sure...but the paternity of the child was still in question. Regardless, she had settled on the fact that if she had to raise the child, she would raise it as Naruto's, and that was that. Yet, she still had a small hope that upon Naruto's return, he would inform her that he was not ready for fatherhood, and Hinata could escape the entire mess.

She chewed her lip as she tugged at the massive rope attached to the calling bell that swung over the great wooden gate of the Hyuga Estate. Within moments, the clamoring of the servants could be heard behind the gate, whispering her name and arrival. As she was escorted to the meeting hall, her heart ached with anxiety. Upon entering the enormous and intimidating hall, she took her place on the small silk pillow before her father's seat, and stared into an expression that was anything but pleasant.

"It is good to see you again, father." She stated politely while taking a sitting bow.

"So, are the rumors true?"

Sigh, he was even more painfully to the point than Shino. Hinata swallowed hard. Her next words would determine her future.

"I...I-I-I..." her voice caught in her throat.

"I am...p-pregnant, father...w-with...the son of the Ichihokage."

She couldn't bare to say his name. The lie stung on her tongue.

"Why did you not bring this news to me sooner, Hinata?"

"I...I was scared, father."

Suddenly, she felt his warm hands wrap around her arms as he pulled her to her feet and into his embrace. It wasn't exactly welcoming...Hiashi had a perpetual stiffness about him, but it did allow her to relax slightly.

"You have nothing to be afraid of, my darling daughter...you are bringing a new Hyuga into the world, one adorned with the great power of the Ichihokage, no less. You should be swelling with pride and joy!"

Oh she was swelling, alright...but pride and joy were not the first adjectives she would have used.

"I just...I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep it..."

That was a mistake. Her false sense of security from her father's embrace had allowed such blasphemous words to escape her lips, and not a second after she had uttered the last syllable, she felt the cold sting of a hand across her cheek. The force of it almost knocked her off her feet.

"How dare you...do you have any idea the importance of this child?! To even think you would consider..."

Her delicate hand held the pain of the sting, and she refused to look at him. This did not stop him from grabbing her by the chin and forcing her to stare into his glossy eyes of ice.

"You will not give up this child. It is your duty to produce an heir for the Ichihokage, and I won't have you disgrace our family name with talk of..."

He couldn't say the words.

"Neji would be disgusted with you."

He finally let go of her, then stood high above her crumpled form and faced away from her.

"Tomorrow it will be announced to Konoha that you are carrying Naruto's child. We'll have an official ceremony, then ensure that you are properly taken care of."

Hinata said nothing.

"You are excused."

~o~

Hinata left the estate with a dark feeling around her. She couldn't help but feel that she would have been better off if she had taken Shino's offer to a discrete termination. Now what could she do? Well, plan A, she supposed...raise the child as Naruto's, and pray to the Gods that Shino kept his mouth shut.

It was hotter that day than the previous, and the mosquitoes were after her again. Every time she felt the pinch of one land on her, the feeling of a thousand more surrounded her. She slapped at them in frustration, almost moving her to tears, when she noticed that one was not like the others. It was another beetle, in fact.

She had been avoiding Shino like the plague, going so much as taping the gaps in her windows and doors shut and lining her windowsill with venus fly traps to keep her quarters as Shino-free as possible. She didn't want him spying on her, after all. She even went as far as taking a nit-comb to her hair until she weeded out his female tracking beetle. With a heavy heart, she crushed the little thing in her fingertips...letting lose a few tears for purposely crushing what was no doubt one of Shino's dearest friends.

But it had to be done...she still had lingering, confusing, and terrifying feelings for Shino, and there was no way she could bury their secret if she saw him.

So when she found what appeared to be one of Shino's beetles on her hand, the first thing she did was immediately Byakugan to find his presence. Before she could seek him out however, a fiery sting erupted on the flesh beneath the beetle. It was then she realized that this was not Shino's beetle...and soon after that, she found that her consciousness was rapidly fading away.

The last thing she saw was four dark blurs surrounding her as she fell into darkness.

~o~

Hinata woke up sometime later in a dim room she was not familiar with. Her grogginess was almost unbearable, and her brain felt as if it weighed about fifty pounds more than usual. She couldn't even bring herself to summon her Byakugan and thoroughly determine her surroundings.

It became apparent that she was lying on some sort of examination table, and she was no longer wearing her normal clothes. Instead, a thin linen robe wrapped around her, but her stomach was exposed.

"She's waking up..." she heard a disembodied voice whisper.

"Wh-who..." Hinata replied deliriously. Her head was spinning.

"Sssh, calm down miss. You're okay."

She felt a pair of hands on her shoulders then, which were applying pressure to keep her from sitting up.

Suddenly, a mechanical click could be heard, and Hinata's vision was blinded by a massive light. When she regained vision, she found herself surrounded by a small group of strange people, all wearing goggles. She didn't recognize a single one of them, but they all gave her a sense of familiarity.

"You just try to relax, this will be over quickly," one of them said.

"Wha..what will be over?" Hinata managed to groggily spew.

An enormous dread washed over her then, when she saw someone emerge from the crowd that she did recognize...the strange woman who had scowled at her at the onsen a few weeks ago. She didn't look any more friendly, especially when Hinata noticed what she was holding...an enormous hypodermic needle filled with a strange pinkish gel substance. To make matters worse, within that gel subject was what must have been a hundred squirming little beetles. Hinata's fear broke through her headache.

"W-what are you doing?!" She shrieked as she began to wriggle away. She was immediately restrained by the woman's goggled partners.

"Hold her still." The woman said bluntly, squeezing a bit of the liquid out of the needle to test it.

Hinata felt a cold tingling as her stomach was wiped with some sort of sterilization pad. Hinata shrieked and kicked, but the shadows held her down tight.

"Please don't struggle...it's for the baby..." the woman said ominously, aiming the needle for Hinata's stomach.

"No! Don't! It's Naruto's! It's Naruto's!" Hinata screamed desperately, as the needle inched closer to her flesh.

Suddenly, the procedure calm to a halt as an enormous creature crashed through a nearby window that Hinata had not cared to notice. The crowd scattered and took a defensive stance around Hinata, but with a furious howl, the tornado burst through the wall of them.

Before Hinata could even realize what was happening, she felt herself being gathered in the arms of an all-too-familiar smell.

"It's okay Hina-chan, I'm getting you outta here," Kiba announced a determined glare to his opponents.

"Don't! You don't know what you're doing!" She heard one of the shadows cry.

"I know exactly what I'm doing...getting Hinata away from you creeps!"

And with that, Hinata was swept to freedom on the backs of wild hounds.

~o~


	9. Chapter 9

Cocoon

Chapter 9

~o~

"Where are you taking me?"

"Somewhere where those Aburame creepers won't be able to find you..."

Kiba had taken Hinata deep into the thick of the woods, far beyond where most shinobi were allowed to even explore. The brush was scratchy and practically impenetrable, but Kiba and Akamaru seem to cut through it as easily as a fish through water. Hinata hardly had any idea where she was, but she trusted Kiba.

"How do you know they were Aburame?" Hinata asked while gripping tight to Akamaru's coarse fur.

"Did you see them?!"

"I was kind of delirious..."

"Well, for one, they were trying to inject bugs into your belly. Two, I crashed into their estate to rescue you. They were Aburame, for sure."

"Why were they after me?"

The question was rhetorical, but she wanted to see what was going through her team mate's head. Anything to keep her mind off the looming hurricane of anxiety.

"Well, they seem to think that you're pregnant with Shino's kid."

"But I'm not...it's Naruto's." She stated without hesitation. Even she was beginning to thoroughly believed it. Kiba gave her a look.

"Listen Hinata, what goes on between you, Shino, and Naruto is none of my business, but the Aburame are after you for a reason. I don't think Shino is aware of what's going on...he's been pretty fucking reclusive for the past month, but I think if he knew his family was doing weird shit to his team mate, he'd be the first to interject."

Hinata took a moment to chew on that. What had she gotten herself into? Kiba seemed to be implying that she knew a lot more than she thought, and she was starting to feel guilty for not being more honest with her team mates. But how could she? Well, it was her own fault, she supposed...the only thing she had done the past few weeks was run away from the inevitable, and now here she was fleeing into some mysterious thicket she'd never been to.

"Aha, smell that? We're about five minutes away."

She did smell it...it was a repugnant odor...like piss and wet dog. Hinata buried her face in the thin robe wrapped around her, attempting to shield herself from the unbearable stench.

"Boy if you weren't so used to hanging around me, this smell would knock you right out. It's a defense mechanism for the den of the Wolfmother."

"The Wolfmother?" Hinata squeaked through stench-induced tears.

"Yeah, that's who I'm taking you to. She's basically been the caretaker for every Inuzaka mother in the past four or five generations. She's like, I dunno...four-hundred something. Anyway, my mom came to her when she was preggo with me, and my grandma too. She'll make sure you're well taken care of."

Hinata wasn't sure what to think of that. But, soon enough, they reached a clearing. A filthy little shack was built into the side of a cliff, and formed a small cave. Surrounding the area were a series of gardens, animal pens, and most noticeably...about a dozen frighteningly enormous wolves.

The wolves could have eaten Akamaru, and Akamaru was the biggest canine Hinata had ever come across. Yet when the three came into the clearing and Kiba and Hinata dismounted, a few of the beasts happily trotted over and greeted Akamaru with the amicable butt-sniff. Kiba gave one of them a rub on the ear, and another a pat on the snout.

"Hey there buddy, it's been a while."

Hinata stuck close to Kiba, pinching her nose all the while. The smell had not gotten any better...she was beginning to fear whether this place was sanitary enough to raise a child in. As the two approached the shack, a paper door slid open, and the most shriveled little lady Hinata had ever seen ooched out into the open. She had a face like an apple that had been peeled and set in the sun for a week, adorned with the Inuzaka facial markings that had been distorted by layers of wrinkles. Her thin, blanched hair was braided into two long pigtails that dragged along the dirt as she walked. In her hand was a gnarled staff twice as tall as she was, and had a few dangling bones tied to it. When she saw Kiba, she shuffled over to him as quickly as her little feet could and welcomed him with a hug.

"Kiba! My fuzzy little Kiba-kun...so good it is to see you again!"

Kiba returned the hug gleefully. "It's good to see you too, Okami Ba-chan."

The Wolfmother immediately turned to Hinata and stared at her with beady little eyes.

"Is this your woman, Kiba-kun? She has eyes like glass."

"Wolfmother this is Hinata Hyuga, she's my teammate and dear friend of mine."

Hinata took a polite bow. "Hajimemashi-oh!"

Before she could finish her greeting, the strange little woman began sniffing her all over. She lifted her arms and sniffed her sides, grabbed her hair and sniffed that as well. Then she placed her clawed little paws on Hinata's stomach, and took a big long whiff of that too.

"Mmmm...this is no Inuzaka child, Kiba," she said curtly.

"Well, yeah...that's kind of the problem...see Hinata here's in some big trouble...she's currently pregnant with-"

"This is the son of the Ichihokage, ma'am," Hinata hesitantly interrupted. The woman looked at her for a moment, then frowned.

"I do not appreciate lies, child. The life within you is no fox child. That is the child of beetles in that troublesome womb of yours."

Hinata bit her lip. "How do you know?" Another rhetorical question.

The Wolfmother tapped the side of her nose. "No truth hides from this nose."

"Either way, I just snatched her out of the claws of the Aburame clan themselves. They were trying to do some kind of weird experiment on her. I wanted her to be somewhere safe while she goes through her pregnancy, and this was the only place I could think of. Can you do it?" Kiba interrupted.

"Mmm...I am not familiar with raising children from other clans. If she is to stay here, she will work with the same regimen as any other Inuzaka."

"Hinata's the toughest girl I know. She can take whatever you can throw at her."

The Wolfmother held a finger to her chin. "I am also concerned with these Aburame you spoke of. They may be strange to us, but surely whatever they were doing would not have been to cause harm to the girl."

"They were trying to inject me with bugs!" Hinata yelped. Flashes of the scene before went by in her mind, and the thought made her feel nauseated. The smell of the den wasn't helping either.

The Wolfmother closed her eyes. "Well, if you think it is best to keep her here, Kiba, I will take her in for your sake..." She looked to Hinata. "I hope you are prepared to work, girl. My services are not free, and don't expect to lie on a bed of feathers and have your feet rubbed just because you are with child."

Hinata bowed her head. "I understand, ma'am."

"Very well, it is done. Kiba, you may return to your village. I imagine you have quite a bit of business to attend to now that you've kidnapped Hiashi Hyuga's daughter."

"Hey, I didn't kidnap her...I reclaimed her!" Kiba stated confidently before turning to Hinata.

"You'll be safe here, okay? I'll take care of everything else...you just worry about taking care of yourself and your kid."

"Thank you Kiba, thank you so much." Hinata embraced him with a few tears welling up, and Kiba returned the hug. She had never felt so grateful to her smelly team mate in all her life.

~o~

The work was grueling. The Wolfmother was a strong believer in not-taking-it-easy. Almost every day she would say "Strong work makes a strong child." Fortunately she didn't make Hinata lift anything heavy, but she did do quite a bit of cooking. Her entire day consisted of feeding the hounds, feeding the Wolfmother, feeding the livestock, and feeding herself. With so many enormous beasts on the property, there was quite a lot of feeding to do, so by the end of the day, Hinata collapsed on her cot in absolute exhaustion. The work kept her mind off other things though, so she couldn't bring herself to complain...not that she would anyway. Hinata had a feeling the Wolfmother would banish her from the den if she gave her any back-talk.

It took about a week to get used to the smell of the place, and Hinata felt as if the stench would never wash off. Even the rough brown work uniform she had been given stunk of animal musk. She was getting plenty of good food, though. Farm-fresh vegetables and meat were certainly going to give her the best nutrition, and the Wolfmother had even introduced her to her own elixir of who-knows-what, which supposed made up for her lack of hospital brand prenatal vitamins. It tasted like rubber, but if Kiba had faith in the woman, so would Hinata.

Speaking of Kiba, he ended up being Hinata's only source to the outside world. As suspected, chaos had risen in Konoha not a day after she went missing, so Kiba informed all the right people that Hinata had almost become the victim of a group of rogue shinobi that were after Naruto's son, so he felt it would be best if she was kept in a safe and confidential location. When Hinata asked him what Shino knew, Kiba told her that he had fallen for the same fib. Apparently, his family wasn't saying anything about the incident whatsoever, not even to Shino.

"Shino was not worried about me?" she asked timidly.

"He's a mysterious fellow. I asked him if he wanted to see you, but he told me that you wanted nothing to do with him. That was the end of that conversation."

"And Naruto? Has he returned yet?"

"There was actually an official letter received from his caravan, but all it said was that their mission was taking longer than expected, and the details were "confidential," whatever that's supposed to mean."

Hinata sighed, and continued to wash the carrot she was cleaning off in a basin of water. She didn't really want to think about anything at this point...she had finally found a clear head space at this kennel, and even if she seldom had time to relax, it was refreshing to not be swimming in anxiety for once. According to Kiba, it sounded like things were relatively stable, so she wouldn't have to worry about anything for at least seven months or so. Besides, stress was bad for the baby.

Then, all of a sudden a lurch of nausea swelled up in her stomach, and she clutched her hand to her mouth.

"Are you okay, Hina-chan?" Kiba asked, resting a light hand on her shoulder. She shook her head.

"Sick...gotta...throw up..."she spat out. A few moments later she found herself puking behind the chicken coop, with Kiba rubbing her back comfortingly.

"Poor honey...this pregnancy thing's a reach bitch, isn't it?"

Hinata coughed, and dabbed her mouth on her sleeve. "Wolfmother says it's normal, but it happens almost every day. I have to keep my fluids up..."

It was more of a reminder to herself than informing Kiba of anything. She felt like she was throwing up an abnormal amount, but the Wolfmother had assured her that she simply needed to get used to the food, and that some children fight harder in the womb than others. She would also experience quite a bit of spotting, but Wolfmother said it was just her womb stretching to make room for the child.

"Want me to punch Shino in the face for you?" Kiba asked.

"Don't joke about that..." she replied, clutching her aching stomach.

"Who's joking? He's the one who got you into this in the first place...don't you think he deserves a good sock to the kisser?"

"Shino didn't do anything..."

"Yeah right...inviting you into his sleeping bag every night to 'protect you from the cold'? Pretty good pick up line, I'd have to say..."

Hinata's eyes widened as her gaze snapped up at Kiba. "How did you know about that?!"

"Oh please, Hinata...don't insult me. You think you and Shino can have your cuddles without my nose and ears knowing? You can smell your pheromones from five miles away. I knew you two would start fuckin' eventually, but Shino takes his time with these things, I guess."

Hinata curled up in tight in a ball of utter embarrassment. Kiba chuckled at her reaction.

"Hey I'm not mad about it or anything, I just wish you'd have asked to join me a few times! Share the love, ya know?"

She slapped him.

"Hey! I'm just saying, if you can fuck Naruto and Shino at the same time, why not add your ol' pal Kiba?"

She slapped him again.

"Because you're crude, incorrigible, loud, and you smell terrible!" she cried.

"That's some thanks for someone who broke you out of Aburame Science Lab 101," Kiba replied while rubbing his cheek.

Hinata was about to slap him again, but she retracted, and resumed her huddled position.

"Hey, relax...I'm just teasing you. I don't care who you've slept with or who you have feelings for, that's all your business and obviously that's a lot of business that you need to sort out. Regardless, all I care about is that you and your kid are safe and content."

Hinata sighed and looked at him with a weak smile. "Thanks, Kiba."

"But if you wanna thank me with a blowjob I wouldn't object."

Kiba then received a slap so hard, even the Wolfmother felt it.

~o~

End of Chapter 9


	10. Chapter 10

Cocoon

Chapter 10

~o~

As the weeks went by, Hinata found herself becoming weaker and sicker. Everything about her was swelling and painful, and the nausea never seem to let up. Eventually the Wolfmother gave up on her work-hard regimen, and allowed Hinata to rest for most of the day. Hinata's condition baffled the old woman.

"I have not seen this happen in all my years. You have been given the same workload and diet that every Inuzaka mother has ever experienced, and they all remained strong and gave birth to healthy children. I have never seen a mother so ill here."

Hinata groaned and rolled over in her cot, sweat bubbling on her neck and forehead. The Wolfmother touched her own chin in thought.

"The only difference is that normally one of the bitches will get pregnant right when an Inuzaka mother reaches her second trimester. The mothers give birth at around the same time, and one of those pups becomes the child's designated hound. But no wolf in the den is with child...I suppose it is because you are carrying a beetle child."

Hinata was panting. "Wolfmother...it...it hurts so bad..."

The old woman rested her hand on Hinata's sweat-soaked forehead.

"I know, my child. Motherhood is a painful path. I'll see if I can make you a salve to help ease the pain."

Just then, Kiba burst through the front door. He hadn't shown up in quite some time, so Hinata took all her strength to lift herself up for him.

"Hinata! He's back! The Ichihokage has returned!" Kiba declared will stumbling over to her beside.

"N...N-naruto-kun? Is..he...does he ...know?" She huffed.

"I told him the same thing as everyone else, that you're being hidden for your safety due to the importance of your child. He says he wants to see you, but he understands the need for your well-being."

"Oh..." She collapsed back into her cot.

"Hinata, what's wrong? I've never seen you in such bad shape."

"This baby...unghh...something's...not right...I feel...w-wet."

"Well, you are sweatin' up a storm, honey..."

"No...it...it hurts...down...t-there..."

Kiba swallowed hard. "You better not slap me for this..."

He then lifted the thick comforter off of her, revealing an enormous stain of deep red blood surrounding her nether regions. Kiba's heart dropped to his feet, and the Wolfmother shrieked at the sight.

"Kiba! The beetle boy...the father, you must fetch him. Quick-like! Tell him his child is bleeding. He will know what to do!"

Kiba stared at the woman, half in shock of the situation, and half bewildered for betraying the very reason they had brought Hinata here in the first place. The Wolfmother struck him across the face.

"Go, boy! Now! There is no time to lose!"

With that, Kiba turned and sprinted out the door with not another word. Hinata wept through agony.

"What...what's g-going on?" she whimpered.

"It is what I feared. The Aburame are no fools, Hinata...whatever they were trying to do to you back then, I suspect it was to prevent this very thing from happening."

~o~

Shino looked up from his studies when an unusually loud pounding was heard from his apartment door. When he opened it, he found Kiba and Akamaru, bent over and panting from exhaustion.

"Hinata...what has happened to Hinata?!" he cried.

Kiba caught his breath for a moment before continuing. His gasps for air were deep.

"She's bleeding. Lots. Ba-chan...thinks something to do with your family."

"Mine? But she swore the child was Naruto's...what does my family have to do with this?"

"Found 'em...doing some weird shit to Hinata, 'bout a month after she found out...wasn't assassins. Aburame. That's the reason...huff...that I hid her."

Shino was livid. He seized Kiba by the shoulders, and shot him a poisonous glare with his remaining eye.

"You mean to tell me...Hinata is pregnant with my child, my family took her and was about to do what was most likely the extremely important medical procedure that they have warned me about, and you stole her, put her on your dog farm, lied to me, and now her baby is in danger?!"

Kiba couldn't bare to meet his gaze. "I'm sorry Shino, she was scared...I was just trying to help her..."

Shino's beetles began leaking from his pores and sleeves. It was clear his control of them was slipping under his rage.

"IT'S BEEN FIVE MONTHS, KIBA! HOW COULD YOU NOT TELL ME ABOUT THIS?!"

If Kiba had a tail, it would surely be between his legs. Akamaru's certainly was. They weren't used to this level of anger from Shino. Despite this, Kiba mustered up the courage to look Shino in the eye.

"Look I know I fucked up bad, but that's not important...Hinata is seriously sick, and she needs your help. Only your family knows what to do, so please figure it out, and I can take you to her."

Shino finally released his grip, then folded his arms in thought. The beetles began to retract, but a few of them still buzzed around in agitation.

"Come with me, I need to see my aunt."

~o~

Hinata had passed out from the pain shortly after Kiba left, and for the next couple of hours she was diving in and out of fever dreams. Her thoughts seem to slip from various traumatic moments in her life, to joyous ones that were dotted with a sense of dread. When she finally gained enough conciousness to be considered awake, a familiar scene played before her.

She was lying on her cot, swaddled in fresh, dry sheets. It seemed like she was still in the Wolfmother's den, but it was dimly lit. After a moment she realized she was in the same thin examination robe that she had arrived in, which was also clean and dry. Well, as clean as things could get in this forest, that is.

Then Hinata heard the creak of the front door sliding open, and in came two mysterious silhouettes. One was just a shape, the other looked like it might be Naruto. She tried to say his name, but her throat was cracked with sleep. When the ordinary shape came into view, her eyes widened. The creature looked like it had wandered in from an apocolyptic wasteland. It was buried in robes and wore a terrifying gas mask. In his hand was a metallic briefcase, which the creature set aside next to her to open. The Naruto-like shape stayed in the back, and appeared to be watching. What was going on?

Then she saw it, the great needle that she had fled from almost half a year ago. Tears immediately began to stream from her face, and she wormed away from the figure desperately.

"No..no...don't...d-don't hurt my b-baby..." she whimpered through a sandpaper throat.

The creature paused for a moment, then outstretched a gloved hand to her face. It was oddly warm as it cupped her cheek, and smeared the tears away with its thumb. Then Hinata gasped as the creature pulled the mask from it's face, revealing Shino's comforting one-eyed smile.

"Don't be afraid, Hinata. I'm here to help."

His smile didn't last long. As soon as he breathed in the air, he flinched and shoved his face back into the mask.

"This place is putrid..." she heard him mumble through the glass.

Hinata was so relieved, she let out an exhausted giggle. Finally, the Naruto shape came forward and revealed himself to be Kiba. Hinata was too happy to be disappointed.

"It's not that bad!" Kiba exclaimed, a look of bitterness on his face. "Now c'mon, do the thing!"

"What thing?" Hinata asked, tensing up again. Shino began to explain things while he prepared her for the procedure.

"My family has been working with insects for many generations. But our relationship to our hive goes beyond a simple symbiosis. We have evolved to the point where we literally cannot live without the other."

Hinata remained silent, and watched as Shino lifted the blankets off her to reveal her swollen belly.

"Without the proper chemicals our hive gives off, our bodies wither and decay. Even in the safety of a mother's womb, an Aburame child will still deteriorate without a hive."

He opened a packet of sanitary wipes, and carefully cleaned off a spot on Hinata's stomach.

"We have to inject a hive in the early stages of pregnancy, the bugs can't enter normally or the immune system of a non-Aburame will kill them off before they can reach the womb. That's why we use the gel in here...it gives the beetles a protective layer while they nest."

He gave a concerning look to Hinata.

"Obviously this procedure isn't something that normal women want to go through...there's usually a long discussion before someone decides to mother a new member of our family. Of course, that discussion never happened...so my family decided to force the procedure on you, hoping they could save the child before you reacted."

Next, Shino slathered on a layer of numbing ointment.

"They didn't tell me anything about it. I supposed they assumed that kidnapping a dear friend of mine, then losing them to an Inuzaka would have upset me. They know me well."

"I'm...I'm sorry...Shino-kun..."

"For what?" It was rhetorical.

"For lying to you."

He sighed. "Being the mother of my child is no walk in the park. I understand your fear. But from now on, please be more open with me. Your well-being is my only concern."

Then he prepared the needle. The beetles within squirmed through the geletin in a sickening movement.

"Is that going to hurt?" Hinata asked, flinching.

"It's not going to feel good, but if it makes you feel any better, these beetles are straight from my own hive."

Strangely enough, that did give Hinata an odd sense of peace. It was like one of those romanticized blood transfusions she'd watch in soap operas. Shino would protect her, inside and out.

But then the pain struck. It was more intense than anything she had felt previously...she felt as if the needle was so long it would go straight through her. She shrieked in agony, and Kiba clasped onto her hand and held it tightly. She squeezed back so hard he thought his fingers would snap.

"Just a little longer, hang on..." Shino said softly.

Kiba was almost whimpering, but he held his tongue. He knew the pain of his hand in Hinata's grip could not compare to whatever hell she was going through. Though after a few seconds, he realized she'd snapped the chakra in his palm right in half.

As Shino squeezed the contents of the needle into Hinata's flesh, she could feel an intense sting within her. The nausea was unbearable. She felt as though she would faint at any moment, but before she even realized it, the procedure was done...and the pain was over.

"You're all done...sweetheart...you can let go of my hand now..." Kiba murmured while wincing.

Hinata let go, and suddenly felt almost sixty percent better. She even had the strength to sit up.

"Oh...oh my goodness, I can...I feel so much better," she sighed wistfully. She then turned to Kiba and saw him clutching his hand.

"Oh no! Kiba, I'm so sorry!"

"Heh...it's okay...I deserve it," he replied with a grin.

"Kiba, may I have some time alone with Hinata?" Shino's voice buzzed through his gas mask.

"Oh, yeah...sure. I'll be outside. Come get me when you're ready to leave."

Shino watched at Kiba left the little shack, then turned to Hinata. It then occurred to her how much trouble she was probably in, and her metaphorical cat ears went flat against her head.

"I...I really am..s-sorry, Sh-Shino-kun..."

Without a word, Shino pulled off the mask in one brisk movement, let it drop to the ground, then held Hinata's face in both hands. He kissed her, firmly and deliberately, like someone who hadn't seen his loved one in almost half a year (which was what in fact, he was). Hinata could help but happily accept the affection. She had missed him, truly she did...and even with the surrounding circumstances, having him here felt like everything was going to be okay. When he finally pulled away, he stared at her lovingly, his remaining eye getting a bit teary.

"God, you smell terrible," he said with the kind of smile that is given to a person just after they wake up from a coma.

"I know, I'm sorry..." she replied with a giggle, eyes full of the same tears of happiness. They embraced each other fully, and held each other in silence.

"So what happens now?" Hinata asked, arms still around Shino. He began to pull away to face her, but she held him tight.

"No, don't stop holding me, ever."

So he didn't.

"Come home with me. Stay with the Aburame, where you belong. Let us take care of you, and make sure our child is born healthy."

_Our child_. It sounded so weird coming from Shino...she was having a child with Shino. The guy with the bugs. Her bugs. The bugs in her womb. What insanity! She started to laugh, a giggle at first, but then louder...almost to the point of hysteria.

"Hinata...? What's so funny?" Shino asked, pulling away and looking at her with concern. He wasn't one for humor.

"It's just so ridiculous! I can't come home with you...all of Konoha thinks this is Naruto's child! What's gonna happen when I show up in Konoha? When I do an ultrasound and my womb is filled with your insects? How am I gonna explain that?!"

She fell back into her cot, her laughter overwhelming her. Shino stared at her like a confused animal. After a few minutes, her laughter dissolved into tears of complete and total despair.

"How am I gonna explain that...?" She whimpered, covering her tear-soaked face with her shaking hands.

She felt a hand lay softly on her swollen belly. She looked up at Shino, who was smiling gently where he placed his hand.

"I was never planning on having children. I practically have about fifty-six million of them I have to constantly watch over every second of the day already..."

Hinata sniffed, but otherwise remained silent as she listened intently. Shino didn't say much, but when he did, it was almost always important.

"I was also never expecting that you of all people would be the mother of my child. Perhaps I fantasized about it once or twice...but..." he stammered. Shino almost never hesitated in his speech. Was he losing his cool for once? His gaze fixated on hers.

"What I'm trying to say is...this is real. You and I, we're going to have a child together. This is not what either of us wanted or expected, but we can make it work. I'll find a way to make it work, no matter what. I'll do everything I can to ensure our child is healthy, happy, and taken care of. I'll do everything to make certain that _you're_ taken care of..."

He smiled.

"Because I love you, and your happiness is all that matters to me."

~o~

End of Chapter 10

_Author's Note: Thanks for reading my story! I love reviews, so please tell me what you think of everything so far._


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